FILE PHOTO
CEBU CITY, Philippines — At least P3.5 million worth of shabu was seized while two drug suspects were arrested during a police buy bust operation on Tuesday afternoon in Barangay Apas, Cebu City.
The seizure was considered as the biggest drug haul in Cebu City in 2014, said the city police director, Senior Supt. Noli Romana.
He said 11 large packs and nine big packs of suspected shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride) were seized from the house of Alcher Baynas, 29, an alleged level 2 drug pusher.
A level 2 drug pusher is someone who traffics not less than 200 grams but not more than a kilo of illegal drugs in one week.
Romana said the packs of illegal drugs, which carried a street price of P3.5 million, were supposed to be delivered to Barangay Talamban in Cebu City.
Baynas and Don Tan of Barangay Talamban were arrested during the operation conducted by the joint police team from City Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operation Task Force (CAIDSOTF) and the Mabolo police station.
Baynas told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that he had been in the illegal drugs trade for less than a year.
He, however, declined to divulge where he had been taking his supply, saying to reveal such an information would put his life in danger.
Senior Insp. Eunil Avergonzado, CAIDSOTF chief, said Tan was caught sniffing shabu on the second floor of the house.
But he said they were investigating the possibility that Tan was also peddling illegal drugs.
Avergonzado said the drug bust stemmed from the tips received by the police on the rampant illegal drugs trade in the area.
He said the surveillance conducted by the police showed that Baynas was the peddler of illegal drugs in Barangay Apas.
Avergonazado said Baynas transacted with the police agent who ordered a big pack of shabu worth P40,000 past 2 p.m. on Tuesday.
When the suspect handed the illegal drugs, other operatives immediately pounced on Baynas.
Several packs of shabu were recovered inside Baynas’ room, which was in front of the room occupied by his mother, Eda.
Eda arrived an hour later and asked the police if they had a search warrant.
When she was told by one of the policemen about the quantity of the illegal drugs seized, Eda was surprised, saying she thought that her son was just a petty street peddler.
Eda said she had asked her son to stop peddling illegal drugs but her pleas fell on deaf ears. “That’s the path that he chose to take,” she said.
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