Man tagged as ‘No. 3 drug pusher’ in Maasin City arrested

MAASIN CITY, Southern Leyte, Philippines—A 36-year-old father of three children, who was tagged by the police as the city’s number three drug pusher, was arrested Sunday in a buy bust operation in Barangay Combado, Maasin City.

Insp. Ferdinand Mendoza, the CIDG provincial head who led the operation, said they seized seven sachets of suspected shabu from Elmer Labata.

He said Labata ran in a bid to elude arrest after his team, composed of policemen from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and the Maasin City Police Office (MCPO), pounced on him following the buy bust operation about 3 p.m. Sunday.

Labata threw a .38 caliber revolver on the ground before he was collared by the police.

The suspect, however, denied the allegations and claimed that the gun and the shabu were planted by the police.

Labata was third suspected drug pusher arrested in three months under the intensified police campaign against illegal drugs “Big Berta” and “Paglalangsad,” a police campaign against illegal firearms.