This photo from the Philippine National Police shows pieces of evidence that authorities confiscated during a buy-bust operation on Monday, July 11, 2022, in San Felipe, Naga City.
MANILA, Philippines — Authorities have arrested three people and confiscated a total of P680,000 worth of crystal meth, locally known as “shabu,” in separate buy-bust operations in Cebu City and Naga City.
The Philippine National Police (PNP) said in a statement Tuesday that Romenor Piañar Villamor, 42, and Charisse Kristine Madrid, 26, were collared during an anti-illegal drug operation in Barangay Labangon, Cebu City, on Monday evening.
According to the PNP, the suspects yielded around 65 grams of suspected shabu packed in 13 sachets. The estimated value of the seized illegal drug is P442,000, police said.
The PNP added that operatives also recovered the money used in the buy-bust from Villamor and Madrid.
In Naga City, the PNP said operatives nabbed Nicanor Almediere Jr., 37, in San Felipe town. Police said P238,000 worth of shabu was confiscated from the suspect.
“As per records, the suspect is included in the recalibrated database on illegal drugs. We want that those key players in the illegal drug trade be made to answer for their illicit transactions,” PNP officer-in-charge Lieutenant General Vicente Danao Jr. said.
This photo from the Philippine National Police shows an arrested suspect alongside pieces of evidence, including sachets of “shabu,” that were seized following a buy-bust operation on Monday, July 11, 2022, in Barangay Labangon, Cebu City.
Charges are being readied against the three suspects for violating the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
The PNP earlier expressed its willingness to continue former President Rodrigo Duterte’s controversial “drug war” under the new administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Major General Valeriano de Leon, PNP Director for Operations, said last week that the government’s brutal campaign against illegal drugs brought the Philippines closer to becoming a drug-free country.
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