PDEA: P850 million worth of shabu seized in Pangasinan buy-bust

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency on Thursday seized P850 million worth of methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu and collared two alleged high-value drug peddlers – including a Chinese national – during a buy-bust operation in Pangasinan.

In a statement, the PDEA said the recovered contraband weighed around 125 kilograms and was concealed inside plastic tea bags.

The PDEA’s buy-bust operation was carried out on Thursday afternoon along entrapment operation along Olongapo-Bugallon Road in Pangasinan in collaboration with the Philippine National Police (PNP) Drug Enforcement Group; National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA); and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Counterintelligence Group.

The high-value drug peddlers were identified as alias “Monkey,” a 40-year-old Chinese national and resident of Paliparan 3 in Cavite City; and alias “Gardo”, 54, a resident of Mampang, Zamboanga City in Zamboanga del Sur.

Authorities also seized a Hyundai Starex van, a mobile phone, and the marked money used in the entrapment operation from the suspects.

PDEA Director General Undersecretary Isagani Nerez said the arrest is “the product of persistent tracking of previous operations targeting individuals connected to syndicated drug trafficking to include their sources.”

“All extracted information was used to our advantage resulting to the arrest of these high-value drug personalities and the confiscation of large sum of illegal drugs,” Nerez said in a statement.

The two suspects will be charged with the illegal sale and possession of dangerous drugs under Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

They face life imprisonment and a fine ranging from P500,000 to P10 million if found guilty of the charges. — JMA, GMA Integrated News