Couple nabbed, 500 grams of shabu seized in Cotabato City drug bust

COTABATO CITY –– Government forces arrested a couple in a drug buy-bust operation Wednesday and seized 500 grams of shabu worth about P3.4 million.

Director Juvenal Azurin of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (PDEA-BARMM) identified the suspects as Joharie Adam Talib alias “Alex” and his wife Rahma Kalibu Talib alias “Bai.”

The couple agreed to supply an undercover PDEA agent P3.2 million worth of crystal meth, which they were to deliver inside a mini-van parked at the city plaza at 4:35 p.m. Wednesday.

Authorities swooped on them as the contraband was handed over to the undercover agent, who gave them 12 bundles of fake bills with a real P1,000-peso bill on top.

Seized from the couple were 10 packets of suspected shabu weighing about 500 grams, passports, identification cards, and the mini-van where the transaction took place.

One ID indicated Joharie as a platoon leader in the 105th Base Command of the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, the armed wing of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which is set for decommissioning in keeping with a peace deal with the government.

The couple is now under the custody of PDEA and charges for violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 are being prepared against them.

Cotabato City Mayor Cynthia Guiani-Sayadi said Wednesday’s operation was jointly conducted by PDEA-BARMM, the local police, and the regional unit of the police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.

Edited by Lzb