Prayer altar in gun-toting suspect’s house yields drugs

Two men were arrested in Caloocan City after a police raid on their house on Friday led to the discovery of an unlicensed firearm and several sachets of “shabu” under a prayer altar.

Jimmy Ausa, a 40-year-old electrician, and his live-in partner’s uncle, Nolan Manansala, 48, will be charged with illegal possession of firearms and illegal drugs, said Senior Supt. Jemar Modequillo, city police chief.

According to Modequillo, they received a complaint that Ausa had often flaunted his firearm and even threatened residents with it, prompting them to ask Executive Judge Victoriano Cabaños of the Caloocan Regional Trial Court Branch 127 for a search warrant.

When the police raided the suspects’ house at Samatad Compound on Tanigue Street, Barangay 14, Dagat-dagatan, they found not just Ausa’s .38-caliber revolver but also 10 sachets of shabu.

Five of the sachets were hidden in a cigarette box under the prayer altar while the rest were found in Ausa’s possession.

Manansala was also arrested after two more sachets were discovered in his pockets, Modequillo said. Also recovered were drug paraphernalia and ammunition.