The three suspects sit while anti-drug agents accounted for the illegal stuff seized from them during an anti-drug operation inside an inn in Cotabato City Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023. (Photo from Radyo Bandera-TV)
COTABATO CITY—A police officer and two other individuals were arrested and more than P400,000 worth of shabu were seized during an anti-drug operation here Thursday night.
Jocelyn Mary, speaking for the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (PDEA-BARMM), said the buy-bust operation was conducted along San Isidro Street, Barangay Rosary Heights 10 at around 6:45 p.m.
An undercover agent managed to buy P340,000 worth of shabu from three persons inside a drug den.
Following the transaction, police arrested the trio, later identified as Patrolman Jassim Aking who is assigned with the Police Regional Office BARMM, Sindatu Macmud, and Fatima Usman.
(Photo from Radyo Bandera-TV)
Apart from the shabu, also seized from the suspects were mobile phones allegedly used in drug transactions and a Suzuki multicab.
“We have been following him (Aking) for the past months, he was placed under surveillance for so long,” Mary said of the arrested police officer.
A formal complaint is being prepared against the suspects who are now detained at the PDEA detention facility here.
Since February 1, PDEA-BARMM was able to recover more than P4 million worth of shabu and arrested at least 10 persons in separate anti-drug operations in Cotabato City, and in the towns of Sultan Kudarat and Kabuntalan, both in Maguindanao del Norte.