Anti-drug raid nets 5 suspected traffickers

PAGADIAN CITY—Anti-drug authorities on Friday arrested five persons during a raid in Malangas, Zamboanga Sibugay.

Laurefel Gabales, head of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in Western Mindanao, said they also seized some P200,000 worth of suspected shabu from the buy-bust operation conducted against the couple Bonifacio Abao, 37; and Wilma Abao, 36, in Barangay La Dicha.

The other arrested suspects were 39-year-old Marlon Dulom Abao, a relative of Bonifacio; 25-year-old Al-Shaida Jundam Balpaki, a resident of Zamboanga City; and John Ryan Tabunon Morcilla, a resident of Imelda, Zamboanga Sibugay.

Gabales said charges for conspiracy in selling drugs, possession of illegal drugs and possession of drug paraphernalia were being prepared against the suspects, who were detained at the Malangas police’s detention facility. /jpv