Makati sting nets man with P25-M shabu

Antinarcotics operatives of the Philippine National Police (PNP) on Thursday arrested a man who tried to sell suspected shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride) worth P25 million to an undercover agent in a sting operation in Makati City.

Joel Maglagre, 47, a resident of Mandaluyong City, was arrested around 12:30 p.m. during a buy-bust operation carried out by operatives of the PNP Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force (Aidsotf) and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), said Senior Supt. Bartolome Tobias, Aidsotf chief.

Gang member

Chief Insp. Roque Merdegia, Aidsotf spokesperson, said Maglagre belongs to a notorious local drug syndicate in Metro Manila.

The group had been reportedly distributing illegal drugs supplied by a Chinese drug syndicate.

“We have been monitoring Maglare’s illegal activities for quite some time, but he had been very careful in his dealings with prospective customers,” Merdegia told the Inquirer.

“We were lucky   we were able to find a way to catch him,” the police official said.

End of the road

After failing to lure him in previous operations, they finally caught up with him when Maglagre agreed to meet with a poseur buyer in front of Rapide Auto Service Center along Chino Roces Avenue in Barangay Pio del Pilar on Thursday.

Merdegia said Aidsotf and PDEA operatives arrested the suspect as soon as he handed over a kilogram of illegal drugs to the undercover agent.

Upon inspection of the suspect’s vehicle, 4 kilos of shabu were found inside Maglagre’s Nissan Sentra (ZLE 805).

The confiscated shabu has an estimated total street value of P25 million.

Merdegia said a case for violation of Republic Act No. 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, was filed against Maglagre.