2 drug pushers including SAP aid recipient fall in Quezon sting

LUCENA CITY – Police arrested two suspected peddlers of “shabu” (crystal meth) on Saturday, one of them a recipient of the government’s emergency cash aid under the Social Amelioration Program (SAP) to cope with the COVID-19 crisis.

Colonel Audie Madrideo, Quezon police chief, reported Sunday that anti-illegal drug operatives collared Augusto Castillo, 42, after he sold shabu to an undercover police officer in a transaction in Barangay (village) San Roque Zone-2 in Tayabas City around 7:30 p.m.

The suspect was reportedly included in the list of SAP beneficiaries in the village and was a former drug surrenderer. The operation yielded three plastic sachets of shabu worth P4,472.

Meanwhile, in Tiaong town, policemen collared Ramil Cortez, 32, in another buy-bust operation in Barangay Paiisa around 4:45 p.m.

Authorities seized 20 plastic sachets of shabu weighing 9.17 grams with an estimated street value of P62,356.

The suspects are facing charges for violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.