Drug pushers operating near police camp caught

Four drug pushers who were brazenly selling their wares just a few meters away from the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) headquarters and a barangay hall were arrested in a buy-bust operation on Monday.

Seized from them were 29 sachets of “shabu” or crystal meth worth an estimated P60,000.

Chief Supt. Guillermo Eleazar, QCPD director, identified the four as Alfredo Abella, 47; Jeric Muceros, 48; Jeffrey Cayabyab, 24, all of Barangay Botocan; and Ana Cruz, 24, of Barangay Balara.

They were arrested at 11 p.m. on Monday on Mapagkumbaba Street in Barangay Botocan, a narrow residential area “just behind Camp Karingal,” Eleazar said.

“That’s where they conduct their transactions,” he told the Inquirer, adding: “They’re very brazen.”

Stone’s throw away

The QCPD headquarters, also found in Barangay Botocan, is located on nearby Makadios Street, just a stone’s throw away from the barangay hall.

A barangay official, Randy Brien, told the Inquirer that the suspects had once been approached by officials who urged them to join a drug rehabilitation program under “Oplan Tokhang.” However, the four refused.

The buy-bust operation was jointly conducted by members of the QCPD and Anonas police station drug enforcement units and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency personnel.

Although the four suspects were known drug pushers, only Abella and Muceros were involved in Monday night’s transaction. Cayabyab and Cruz were just standing nearby although they were found to be carrying shabu.

According to Eleazar, Quezon City policemen also arrested Abella in 2015 for drug possession although the case was dismissed.

Eleazar said they were unsure how long the suspects had been selling drugs in the area because they would often lie low in between transactions.

Months-long surveillance

The four, however, had been under surveillance for several months but authorities conducted the buy-bust operation only on Monday after they found an asset whom the suspects trusted enough to deal with.

Brien added that several suspects who were running a drug den in the same area were caught in October, possibly paving the way for new drug pushers to take over the area.