Manila bust yields P4-M shabu, bank slips
A 21-year-old man placed under police surveillance for four months was found carrying 3.8 kilos of “shabu” (methamphetamine hydrochloride) worth almost P4 million in a buy-bust operation Friday, according to the Manila Police District (MPD). Ryan Saripada also yielded bank deposit slips when arrested around 6 p.m. on C. Palanca Street in Barangay San Miguel, Manila. According to Chief Insp. Glenn Gonzales, head of the MPD’s antinarcotics section, the drugs were found in plastic bags kept in Saripada’s car, where a poseur buyer met with the suspect for a P300,000 transaction. Also seized from Saripada were a weighing scale and 11 bank deposit slips for a total of P2 million. MPD-District Anti-Illegal Drugs officers said the deposit slips—which would be used to trace Saripada’s possible drug clients or suppliers—were issued by just one bank and had different account names. Friday’s entrapment was a joint operation of the MPD and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency. Annelle Tayao-Juego
Burglar cornered in Makati lawyer’s house
A man was arrested in Makati City for stealing jewelry and other valuables—including a shotgun—from a lawyer’s house Saturday morning. An armed Richard Del Rosario, 38, surrendered to the police who found him still inside the three-story residence of lawyer Allan Sheker on Pililia Street, Barangay Valenzuela, around 8:30 a.m. The suspect broke into the house by using a bolt cutter to remove the grills of the air-conditioning unit on the second floor, according to Senior Insp. Allan Esquillo, commander of the Makati police Substation 1. He had gone from room to room and was carrying his loot in a bag from the master bedroom when the lawyer’s family driver spotted him at the garage. The driver alerted the police, who within minutes had Del Rosario cornered in the kitchen. Esquillo said Del Rosario was armed with a .22-cal. revolver but surrendered without a fight. Found in his bag were assorted jewelry, a Rolex and an automatic shotgun which the driver said belonged to Sheker. The lawyer was on vacation with his family in Batangas province on the day of the burglary, Esquillo said. According to the driver, he had just arrived at the house to get the family car and fetch the Shekers in Batangas when he noticed that they car key was missing from where it was usually kept. His search led him to the suspect, who produced the key when frisked, a sign that he was also planning to use the car for his getaway. Responding village watchmen said Del Rosario is also a known drug user residing in neighboring Barangay Olympia. Maricar B. Brizuela
Long after revelry, stray bullet hits QC home
Two days into the new year, a stray bullet hit a Quezon City home Friday afternoon while the household members were celebrating a child’s birthday. Lorenza Hordonez of Bliss 2-Building 2, Sikatuna Village, said the bullet came through the ceiling of her kitchen around 3:30 p.m. No one was hit as “we were having the party [elsewhere] in the house. Thank goodness!” Hordonez said. The slug was recovered and turned over the Quirino station of the Quezon City Police District. Despite government warnings against celebratory gunfire to greet the New Year, the Philippine National Police recorded 59 stray bullet incidents nationwide that injured 42 people and killed an 11-year-old girl in Abra province, from Dec. 16 to Jan. 3. Rima Granali