INQUIRER file photo of methamphetamine or shabu
LUCENA CITY — Police arrested an elderly “high-value” drug suspect early Sunday (July 16) and seized over P2,800,000 worth of shabu (crystal meth) from her in a buy-bust operation in this city, report said.
Members of the Quezon police drug enforcement unit busted Julieta Maruhom, 63, around 1:58 a.m. after she allegedly sold P10,000 worth of meth to an undercover cop posing as a drug user in a transaction in a subdivision in Barangay (village) Ibabang Dupay, Colonel Ledon Monte, Quezon police chief, reported.
The operatives confiscated from Maruhom 10 plastic sachets of shabu weighing 139 grams, worth about P945,200 as per the Dangerous Drugs Board valuation and a digital weighing scale.
The seized illegal substance is worth P2,835,600 in the street market at the prevailing price of P20,400 per gram, the report said.
Authorities are investigating the source of the drugs.
Authorities also seized a mobile phone from the suspect which will be subjected to digital forensic examinations if they have records of drug transactions.
Police tagged Maruhom as included on the police drug watch list as an “HVI” or high-value individual in the illegal drug trade in the province.
“Her arrest is expected to drop the supply of shabu to users in this city and other parts of the province,” Monte said.
The suspect is under police custody and is facing charges of violating the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.