EPD cops net minor who boasts of selling marijuana

A 17-year-old male suspect who bragged on social media about selling marijuana leaves has been caught in Barangay San Miguel, Pasig City, after he sold the illegal substance to an undercover operative of the Eastern Police District (EPD), report said on Thursday.

EPD investigators said in a report that the suspect, who is an out-of-school youth of Pasig City, is a member of a larger drug organization utilizing minors in the illegal drug trade. The group was apprehended on Sunday in Barangay Palatiw, Pasig.

“The 17-year-old minor is a member of the Anselle Rivera Drug Group who was recently arrested on July 22, 2018, in Palatiw, Pasig City, during a buy-bust operation and confiscation of more or less five kilos of high-grade marijuana with an estimated street value of around P500,000,” EPD Director Bernabe Balba said.

“Anselle Rivera was the drug leader who utilizes minors as couriers in selling marijuana and also engaged in robbery-snatching within the EPD area of responsibility,” he added.

A tea-bag size pack containing alleged marijuana and three more sachets of suspected shabu were recovered from the minor, including the buy-bust money amounting to P300.

Balba confirmed that the arrested teenager was one of the two individuals who raised a “dirty finger” for policemen in a viral photo. Both minors were bragging about policemen who cannot arrest them as they continue selling drugs because they are minors.

The EPD director also said that the arrested teenager was the same minor who was caught for theft committed inside the Pasig City Market.

While the suspect was turned over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development due to his status as a minor, he will eventually face charges for violations of Sections 5 and 11 of R.A. 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.  /jpv