2 big-time drug pushers fall in Quezon bust; P3.1 worth shabu seized

LUCENA CITY – Police arrested two big-time drug suspects and seized a total of P3,178,400 worth of shabu (crystal meth) in a buy-bust operation Tayabas City in Quezon province on Friday night, a police report said Saturday.

Police Colonel Ericson Dilag, Quezon police chief, quoting a report from Police Major Romar Pacis, Tayabas police chief, said anti-illegal drugs operatives nabbed Edwin Luistro, 50, after he sold a pack of shabu to an undercover police officer in a transaction in Barangay (village) Calumpang around 6 p.m.

Authorities confiscated 52.35 grams of shabu in three plastic sachets with an estimated Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) value of P355,980 and worth P1,067,000 in the street market.

Nolly Batoto, 52, Luistro’s companion, tried to escape aboard a Nissan pick-up vehicle but was also nabbed by pursuing policemen after a brief chase.

Batoto yielded four sachets of shabu weighing 103.50 grams valued at P703,800 and worth P2,111,400 in the streets.

Police are conducting further investigation to determine the source of the illegal drugs.

The suspects, both residents of Catanauan town, also in Quezon, were detained at the city police jail and are facing charges for violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

/MUF