Cops nab 4 in Lucena drug den raid

Senior Supt. Rhoderick Armamento (left), Quezon police director, inspects drug paraphernalia seized during a raid at an alleged drug den in Lucena City on Saturday, Jan. 14, 2017. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

LUCENA CITY – An alleged drug pusher and three suspected drug users were arrested in a raid Saturday on a drug den here, police said Sunday.

Senior Supt. Rhoderick Armamento, Quezon police director, said anti-illegal drug operatives and a Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) unit swooped down on the house of alleged pusher Efren Bautista in Barangay Mayao Crossing at about 1:30 p.m.

Police said they found Jaime Orig, Elton Llona and Alex Barong having a pot session inside the house.

The raiders seized a caliber-.22 magnum revolver, ammunition for caliber-.45 and 9-mm firearms, a digital weighing scale, small plastic sachets of “shabu” (methamphetamine hydrochloride) weighing 3.28 grams worth P6,000 and drug paraphernalia.

A notebook with a list of drug sales and transactions with certain personalities was also found.

Armamento said they were acting on a tip regarding the place, an alleged source of “shabu” in the area.

“According to village officials, the den was being frequented mostly by ambulant vendors, tricycle drivers and students, some are even minors,” Armamento said.

Armamento called on village officials in Quezon province to continue serving as the frontline in the government’s war on illegal drugs. CBB/rga