PNP hunts down 4 suspected members of drug cartel

The Philippine National Police vowed to hunt down the Sinaloan drug cartel after a Batangas court ordered the arrest of members of the dreaded syndicate.

Senior Supt. Benjamin Lusad, chief of the Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force thanked the court for issuing the arrest warrants against the Mexican nationals and a Filipino-American for their involvement in the illegal drug trade.

Lipa City Judge Danilo Sandoval of Regional Trial Court Branch 12 directed the arrest of Jaime Sanchez, Carlos Isaac Ochoa, Eduardo dela Vega and Filipimo-American Jorge Torres.

This was in connection with a December 2013 raid at a gamefowl farm in Lipa City, during which authorities recovered 84 kilos of shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride).

Lusad said they would ask the Department of Foreign Affairs and Department of Justice to process the extradition of Torres, who was reported to be hiding somewhere in the United States.

“We are also coordinating with the Interpol, the United States justice department, the National Bureau of Investigation and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency to arrest Sanchez and Ochoa,” Lusad said.

During the operation on December 25, 2013, the PDEA and the PNP also arrested three suspects, recovering four luggage trolleys containing 84 kilos of shabu.

The arrested suspects were believed to be local counterparts of the dreaded Sinaloan drug cartel, which is believed to be setting up a market in the Philippines.

On Wednesday, Mexican national and suspected Sinaloan drug cartel member Horacio Hernandez Herrera entered a “not guilty” plea to drug charges before a Makati City court.

Herrera was arrested in January this year during a buy-bust operation in Makati City, during which two kilos of cocaine were seized from him.