‘Big-time’ teen drug pusher nabbed in Quezon City

MANILA, Philippines—A “big time” teenage drug pusher and a companion were arrested in a buy-bust operation in Quezon City that yielded P360,000 worth of illegal drugs, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency said Wednesday.

The suspects, Saber Hayatuddin, 18, and Abiya Uyag, of legal age, even offered a P500,000 bribe to the arresting authorities for their release but were rebuffed, the PDEA said.

The two were arrested after they allegedly tried to sell four sachets of “shabu” (methamphetamine hydrochloride), to an undercover PDEA agent on July 24 along Misamis Street, Sto Cristo, Bago Bantay, the PDEA said in a statement.

PDEA Director General Jose S. Gutierrez Jr. said the agents confiscated sachets containing 20 grams of shabu from the suspects.

Also recovered from Hayatuddin were five Banco De Oro passbooks “bearing traces of big transactions as indicated in the deposits and withdrawals,” Gutierrez said without specifying amounts.

Hayatuddin’s arrest, according to Gutierrez, resulted from a series of surveillance operations after a taxi driver turned over 1.9 kilos of shabu concealed in a black backpack, which was left by passengers in the compartment of his taxi on July 8.

Based on the sworn statement of the taxi driver, whose identity was withheld for his security, he was hired by a “young man” at about 9 p.m. on July 7 to transport small pieces of furniture and personal belongings.

The young man did not ride the taxi but his two women companions got in and requested the driver to take them to a new apartment somewhere in Quezon City. After unloading their personal effects, the two women requested the taxi driver to take them to SM North Edsa.

“It was hours later that the taxi driver discovered that a black backpack was left in his compartment,” the PDEA said.

The investigation later revealed that Hayatuddin was the same person who owned the black backpack containing 1.9 kilos of shabu surrendered by the taxi driver, the PDEA said.