QC pad ‘1-stop shop’ for cocaine, other illegal drugs

Room 301 was the place to go for those seeking his merchandise.

A man was arrested in the wee hours of Friday in Quezon City for allegedly keeping a supply of cocaine, “shabu,” marijuana and party drugs at his third-floor apartment which police said served as a “one-stop shop” for dope users.

After placing him under surveillance for two weeks, the police cornered Jose Vergel Natividad, 56, in a buy-bust operation outside the five-story apartment building where he was staying on Kapaligan Street in Barangay Doña Imelda.

Allegedly found inside the unit were 1.6 kilos of cocaine, 288 grams of methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu, marijuana, eight Ecstasy tablets, 50 Mogadon tablets, 170 grams of marijuana seeds and drug paraphernalia.

The cocaine alone was valued at P2.5 million per kilo, according to Quezon City Police District chief Senior Supt. Richard Albano.

“These are an assortment of uppers and downers. That place is like a ‘one-stop shop’ for drug users where they can get whatever suits them,” Albano said in a press conference.

The QCPD’s Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Group set a trap for Natividad around 2 a.m. Friday.

A female tipster helped the team by approaching Natividad on behalf of an undercover policeman who wanted to buy four grams of cocaine worth P12,000.

The woman managed to bring the poseur buyer to Natividad’s place for the transaction, after which other policemen moved in for the arrest.

Natividad tried to run back to his apartment but was cornered by the lawmen.

A search at his apartment also yielded a .38-cal. Smith and Wesson, a 9-mm Walter pistol and ammunition, the QCPD said. Julie M. Aurelio