P251.6-M ‘shabu’ seized from couple in Cavite

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

LUCENA CITY – Two alleged big-time drug traffickers were arrested on Saturday night, November 12, and yielded over P251-million worth of shabu (crystal meth) in a buy-bust operation in Imus City in Cavite province.

Colonel Christopher Olazo, Cavite police chief, in a report said joint operatives from the Calabarzon (Region 4A) Drug Enforcement Group-Special Operations Unit, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, Cavite Provincial Police Intelligence Unit and the Imus City police nabbed Datu Ali Sampulna, 38, and his wife, Almira Sampulna, 30.

The arrest came after the authorities held an anti-drug operation at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday. The suspects reportedly sold a kilo of shabu to a poseur buyer in a transaction in Barangay Buhay na Tubig.

The police also reportedly found in the possession of the suspects one styrofoam box containing 36 kilos of meth.

The report said that the illegal drug haul, totaling 37 kilos, has an estimated Dangerous Drugs Board value of P251.6 million at P6.8 million per kilo.

The police were tracking down the source of illegal drugs peddled by the suspects, who were classified as “high-value” targets in the illegal drug war.

A desk officer at the Imus City police said in a phone interview on Sunday that the husband-and-wife suspects were collared inside a house in Barangay Buhay sa Tubig.

The police report described Datu Ali as “jobless,” while Almira as an “online seller.” Both are residents of Cotabato City.

Olazo ordered investigators to ensure that all pieces of evidence against the couple were properly processed and documented.

Brigadier General Jose Melencio Nartatez, Jr., Police Regional Office 4A chief, lauded all the policemen involved in the successful operations.

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