Barangay councilor in Cebu busted for selling illegal drugs

Agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) arrested on Tuesday a barangay councilor in Cebu after being caught in the act of selling illegal drugs, according to a statement issued by PDEA Director General Aaron N. Aquino.

The suspect was identified as Arvin dela Fuente, 45, a barangay councilor and resident of Barangay Can-asujan, Carcar City, Cebu.

He was arrested in a buy-bust operation conducted at around 2 a.m. in Barangay Poblacion III by agents of the PDEA regional office in Central Visayas.

The agents confiscated 10 packs, or approximately 50 grams, of suspected crystal meth, locally known as shabu, with an estimated street value of P250,000.

Dela Fuente will be charged for violation of Section 5, Article II of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs of 2002 (Republic Act 9165).

Later, in another opreation, the same team arrested 44-year-old Segundo Caballero Jr. and his 17-year-old daughter following an entrapment operation in their house in Barangay Perrelos in Carcar City.

The agents confiscated 50 grams of shabu worth P250,000.

In another buy-bust operation, another PDEA team arrested 30-year-old Luisito Flores in Barangay Mactan, Lapu-Lapu City. The agents seized 90 packets of shabu weighing 5 grams with a street value of P25,350.

Caballeros and Flores are facing charges for violating the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act.

The arrested female minor will be turned over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development Office in the region.

As a minor, she will be held criminally liable under the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006 (R.A. 9344), if the court should determine that she had acted with discernment in committing the offense, Aquino said. /atm