Cops find ‘shabu’ den near San Agustin Church

THE MANILA Police District (MPD) trained its antidrug campaign on the historic enclave of Intramuros, a tourist attraction where shantytowns have formed among Spanish-era structures, and arrested six people on Thursday night.

PO2 Chris Razon of the MPD’s Ermita station said a buy-bust operation was arranged to entrap Rosie “Neneng” Luban, 37, an alleged drug peddler who was placed under surveillance for two weeks.

But when Razon and his team entered Luban’s home in a shanty community on Cabildo Street near San Agustin Church, they caught two other suspects—Norhami Kapia, 43, and Reynaldo Palti, 32—holding sachets containing a substance that looked like “shabu.”

Razon said three other suspects were caught having a drug session inside the house: Eduardo Mendoza, 47; Joselito Ferrer, 25; and  Jonathan Ocenar, 24.

Twenty heat-sealed sachets containing suspected shabu worth P10,000 and some drug paraphernalia were confiscated from the six suspects, who were facing charges and remained in detention at the Ermita station at press time.

The MPD-Ermita station commander Supt. Albert Barot, said they were monitoring other shanty areas in Intramuros for drug-related activities. Annelle Tayao-Juego