Quezon cops nab alleged big-time drug trafficker; seize P20.7-M shabu

INQUIRER FILES

LUCENA CITY — Police anti-narcotics operatives seized on Tuesday more than P20.7 million worth of shabu (crystal meth) from an alleged “high value” trafficker in Tagkawayan town in Quezon province.

Colonel Ruben Lacuesta, Quezon police chief, said in a report on Wednesday that members of the provincial drug enforcement unit and local cops arrested “Joel,” 33, at 8 p.m. after he sold shabu worth P7,000 to a poseur buyer in Barangay Rizal.

The law enforcers confiscated from the suspect a plastic bag and several sachets containing shabu weighing one kilo and 15 grams with an estimated Dangerous Drugs Board value of P6,902,000.

The seized shabu is worth P20,706,000 in the street market at the prevailing price of P20,400 per gram, according to the police.

The police also confiscated a motorcycle believed to have been used by the suspect in his illegal drug business.

Police said the suspect, a resident of the locality, is on the police drug watch list as a high-value individual on the local drug scene.

Quezon police are investigating the source of the illegal drugs.

The suspect was detained and will face the charge of violating the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.