Woman arrested in Ormoc City drug raid

ORMOC CITY, Philippines—The police here arrested a 37-year-old woman for alleged possession of illegal drugs during a raid in her house in Purok 4, Tambulilid village, this city on Tuesday.

Marissa Otadoy was detained at the Ormoc City Police Station 3 pending filing of charges.

Senior Inspector Ariel Nuñez, the team leader of Anti-Illegal Drugs and Special Operations Task Force (AIDSOTF) of the Ormoc City police, said the police seized one medium-sized and 51 small sachets of suspected methamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu) worth P27,500, drug paraphernalia, P30,775 in cash and seven receipts of a money courier company showing a total amount of P240,000 that the police theorized was being used in illegal drug transactions.

According to Nuñez, the police found the drugs inside an eyeglass case and a small pouch at the creek where Otadoy allegedly threw them.

Otadoy, her live-in partner Simban Limbona and Lilibeth Javier were named in the search warrant issued by the Ormoc Regional Trial Court Branch 35. Limbona and Javier were not in the house when the raid was conducted.

Senior Jail Officer Felix Carcellar of Ormoc Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) said Otadoy and Limbona, who have a five-year-old daughter, were detained in 2008 for a similar offense but their case was dismissed on December 23, 2010, for lack of probable cause.