Cop, 2 others nabbed in Surigao drug bust

MANILA, Philippines—A police officer and two other persons suspected of pushing illegal drugs were arrested in a buy-bust operation in Surigao City earlier this week, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency said on Saturday.

Arrested were Police Officer 1 Richborn M. Cagas, 35; Joeffrey V. Ensinada, 30, a suspected operator of a drug den; and Pebi Greg L. Misa, 30, all residents of Surigao City.

In a statement, PDEA Director General Jose S. Gutierrez Jr. said PDEA agents, along with other law enforcement units, conducted the operation last Monday inside Ensinada’s house in  Barangay Washington that was allegedly being used as a drug den.

The suspect allegedly sold a plastic sachet of shabu, or methamphetamine hydrochloride, to an undercover agent, and further body search on Ensinada yielded another sachet. Cagas and Misa were inside the house when the transaction took place, prompting the authorities to arrest them as well, the PDEA said.

Also recovered during the operation were drug paraphernalia and the cell phone used for drug transactions.

The suspects are detained at the PDEA region 13 detention facility, and they will face charges of violations of Sections 5 (sale of dangerous drugs), 6 (maintenance of a den), 7 (visitors of a den), and 11 (possession of dangerous drugs), of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.