MASBATE CITY, Philippines—The Philippine National Police has seized prohibited drugs worth almost a million pesos from a former barangay (village) chief in this city, the top police official in Masbate said Thursday.
Ceasar Jose Almario, the former chairman of Barangay Centro here, was arrested after a raid on his house at noon Wednesday yielded 109.6 grams of shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride) valued at P800,000, said Senior Superintendent Heribeto Olitoquit, Masbate PNP director.
Following the seizure of shabu and illegal drug paraphernalia, police operatives, according to Olitoquit, also found two unlicensed firearms, a caliber .357 magnum and a caliber .22 airgun.
Almario, now held at the Masbate City Police Office, faces charges of violating the law against dangerous drugs and illegal possession of firearms, said Olitoquit.