Over P14.2M shabu seized from 2 drug traders in Sorsogon

Sorsogon. INQUIRER FILES

LEGAZPI CITY – Authorities arrested two bigtime drug traders and recovered more than P14.2 million worth of “shabu” (crystal meth) in a buy-bust operation in Matnog town in Sorsogon province on Saturday afternoon (March 23).

Brigadier General Andre Perez Dizon, Bicol police chief, said the suspects identified as Paniyaris Imam Bora, 20, and Hamza Rataban Macauco, 54, both residents of Lanao del Sur, were arrested in Barangay (village) Hidhid at around 3 p.m.

The police, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and the Philippine Coast Guard personnel confiscated a sealed transparent sachet of shabu weighing 100 grams worth P680,000 and two vacuum-sealed Chinese tea bags containing the same illegal drugs weighing 2,000 grams worth P13.6 million.

READ: Shabu worth P68,000 seized from 4 suspects in Sorsogon City

Dizon said the suspects were going to Mindanao and got their drug supplies from Metro Manila.

They were included in the illegal drugs watch list and tagged as high-value individuals.

“The number of high value drug pushers will reduce, and it will also prevent possible shipment of illegal drugs along Bicol,” Dizon said in a private message on Saturday.

They were brought to the Matnog police station for detention. They are now facing charges for violating the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.