Marinduque village councilor nabbed in drug sting
MANILA, Philippines—A village councilor was arrested after allegedly selling suspected methamphetamine chloride or “shabu” during a sting operation in Marinduque, a Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency official said Wednesday.
PDEA Director General Undersecretary Arturo Cacdac, Jr. identified the arrested councillor as Joris Jardiniano, 49, and resident of Barangay (village) San Miguel, Boac, Marinduque.
The agency said Jardiniano, who was arrested Monday by joint operatives from PDEA and the local police, is in the PDEA list of drug suspects.
In the sting operation, the councilor allegedly handed a sachet of shabu to a poseur-buyer.
Aside from the two P500 marked money used in the drug bust, the suspect also yielded three sachets of shabu, a black body bag containing an undetermined amount of Philippine peso and Canadian dollars, two disposable lighters and a mobile phone.
Police are preparing drug charges against Jardiniano.
“If he [Jardiniano] is found guilty, the maximum penalty of the anti-drug law shall be imposed upon him, in addition to absolute perpetual disqualification from any public office, being a government official himself,” Cacdac said.
