‘New players’ in drug trade busted in Taguig

AFP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—A “newly formed” group of drug traffickers apparently didn’t go far in their lucrative trade after its four members were arrested in a buy-bust operation in Taguig City early Thursday.

The suspects yielded four kilos of “shabu” worth around P8 million when entrapped by members of the Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force (Aidsoft) of the Philippine National Police.

Larex Pepino, 35; Jhay-Ar Radin, 25; and Nelson Conarco, 20; all of Las Piñas City, and Jayberne Ruiras, 33, of Quezon City, are believed to be members of a new gang supplying illegal drugs to street-level distributors in Metro Manila and the Calabarzon region, according to Aidsoft.

Task force spokesperson Chief Insp. Roque Merdegia said the transaction and eventual arrests were carried out around 2 a.m. Thursday on Bayani Road near Heritage Park in Western Bicutan, Taguig.

Merdegia said the initial target of the operation was Pepino, whose activities were revealed to the PNP by an informant. Pepino has pending drug cases and is described as the “hotshot” of the group.

The official said the group appeared to be a new player in the drug trade since most of the members were not on the Aidsoft watch list. “This is an emerging group. It’s the first time for most of them to be arrested. We believe (they have been) entrusted with large amounts of shabu from Chinese suppliers,” Merdegia added.

When contacted by an undercover agent, the group was initially wary of a face-to-face meeting and preferred bank transactions. The suspects also changed the venue of the deal before agreeing to meet the buyer on Bayani Road.

The purchase was done inside a Nissan Almera, where Pepino received P500,000 in cash from the agent while Ruiras handed over 400 grams of shabu. The rest of the antinarcotics team then moved in for the arrest.

The police later found 3.6 kilos more of shabu inside the vehicle.