Tricycle driver yields P411,000 ‘shabu’ in Lucena City buy-bust

Police arrest a tricycle driver during a buy-bust operation in Lucena City on Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. Police also seized more than P411,000 worth of shabu (crystal meth) from the suspect, who is listed on the police drug watch list as an HVI or high-value individual in the local drug trade. The suspect drives a tricycle to allegedly cover his illegal business, according to authorities. INQUIRER FILES

LUCENA CITY — Police arrested a tricycle driver during a buy-bust operation in this city on Friday, Dec. 13, and seized more than P411,000 worth of shabu (crystal meth).

Lucena City police chief Lieutenant Colonel Dennis de Guzman said in a report Saturday that an alias “Jigs/Donato,” 52, was nabbed by anti-illegal drugs operatives after he sold P500 worth of shabu to an undercover police officer in Barangay (village) Ibabang Iyam at around 5:51 p.m. on Friday.

The suspect, after a routine frisking, yielded five plastic sachets containing shabu weighing 20.16 grams with an estimated Dangerous Drugs Board value of P137,088.

READ: P750,000 worth of ‘shabu’, gun seized in Lucena City drug bust

The seized shabu is worth P411,264 in the street market at the prevailing price of P20,400 per gram, the police report said.

The suspect, who drives a tricycle to allegedly cover his illegal business, is listed on the police drug watch list as an HVI or high-value individual in the local drug trade.

READ: Police arrest teenager with P2.2 million suspected ‘shabu’ in Lucena City

HVI refers to financiers, traffickers, manufacturers, and importers of illegal drugs or leaders/members of drug groups.

The suspect was detained and is facing a formal complaint for violating the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.