Shabu: More drug pushing suspects are killed or arrested during buy-busts over the illegal drug. (CDN FILE PHOTO/Christian Maningo)
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – A few days after Bukidnon Gov. Jose Maria Zubiri Jr. ordered all the provincial government workers to undergo drug testing, one of his employees was arrested by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Northern Mindanao (PDEA) for possessing P112,000 worth of shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride).
But in a statement released to the media Monday, Zubiri denied that the suspect, Marlou Madrial, was a member of his security team at the time of the arrest.
“Marlou Madrial is not a bodyguard assigned to provide security to me. I have terminated his service as Administrative Aide 4 effective (Monday), for loss of trust and confidence, being a co-terminus employee. He has never been a part of my close-in security group,” Zubiri said.
Madrial was arrested in his residence in Barangay Gutapol in Kibawe town on Saturday morning.
Taken during the raid was suspected shabu weighing about 25-30 grams with estimated street value of P112,000, the PDEA report added.
Provincial information officer Hansel Echavez, in an interview Monday, said Madrial was not one of the four provincial government employees who were tested for illegal drugs during the massive testing conducted in Malaybalay City on orders of Zubiri last week.
Echavez said Madrial, being from Kibawe town, was detailed at the local government unit in that municipality.
“He was not there during the drug testing since he was on field assignment,” he said. SFM/rga