3 arrested for drug sale at videoke bar

MANILA, Philippines–Three bar workers moonlighting as drug dealers were arrested after they sold methamphetamine hydrochloride, or “shabu,” to undercover policemen in Quezon City on Saturday night.

Charged with drug peddling were Allan Per, 39, a waiter; Bambi Robles, 39, also a waiter and helper; and Elmer Lanzaderas, 36, a parking attendant.

Senior Insp. Roberto Razon, chief of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) anti-illegal drugs unit, said the three worked in AJ Videoke Bar on Visayas Avenue, Tandang Sora.

He added that trio sold drugs to customers at the bar without the owner’s knowledge.

“Bar customers who want to buy shabu can buy it from them. We are afraid that this practice may be rampant in other small bars,” Razon said.

The three were arrested at the bar around 8 p.m. on Saturday in an entrapment operation conducted by Razon and his men based on a tip sent to QCPD director Chief Supt. Richard Albano.

Razon said he and his operatives posed as customers at the videoke bar before they were introduced to the suspects by an informant.

The trio were collared after they sold .45 grams of shabu for P5,000 to the undercover policemen.

During a search, a sachet containing .02 g of shabu was recovered from Lanzaderas while Robles yielded another sachet containing .011 g of the drug.

Razon warned other businessmen and their workers against selling illegal drugs in their establishments, saying they would be going after them as well.–Julie M. Aurelio