Cabanatuan cops nab village chief, son for drugs

CABANATUAN CITY—A village chief and his 30-year-old son were arrested in simultaneous police operations on the outskirt village of Pula on Thursday.

The Cabanatuan Police Drug Enforcement Unit and agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency raided the houses of Barangay Pula chairman Reynaldo delos Santos, 48, and of his son Billy Rey at 6:30 a.m. on the strength of court-issued search warrants.

Supt. Ponciano Zafra, city police chief, said the teams recovered three sachets of suspected shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride) and seven empty sachets containing what appeared to be shabu residue, as well as 11 bullets for a handgun from the village leader’s house.

Police held Billy Rey for possessing a sachet containing suspected shabu residue, which was found at his house.

According to Zafra, delos Santos previously surrendered to the police when it undertook Oplan Tokhang, but police surveillance indicated he continued using and selling illegal drugs. Armand Galang, Inquirer Central Luzon/rga