Police nabs 5 in drug buy bust operations

BY BOY RYAN B. ZABAL

Five suspects were apprehended by police operatives in three separate buy-bust operations in Kalibo, Aklan and in Boracay Island this week.

In Kalibo, personnel of Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA)-Western Visayas nabbed on Saturday in a restaurant along Osmena Avenue the suspect identified as 32-year old Saidy Elias of Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental.

Recovered from the suspect were ten big sachets of suspected shabu and a mobile phone containing text messages of drug transactions.

Saidy Elias arrested by PDEA agents in buy-bust operation

The suspect was brought by the PDEA agents to Iloilo City for the filing of charges against him.

Elias was supposed to deliver the shabu in Boracay Island to the poseur-buyer but the buy-bust team and the suspect agreed the purported drug deal instead in Kalibo, Aklan. 

Another sting operation by the Provincial Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operation Task Force Group (PAIDSOTG) and the Kalibo police station also resulted to the arrest of Gladys Macabales, 21, of Barangay Tigayon and Benedict Cañal, 24, of Sitio Ilang-ilang, Barangay Andagao, both from Kalibo, Aklan.

The two suspects were arrested after they handed to a poseur buyer one sachet of shabu in exchange for P1,000 marked money in Park Homes 3 in Barangay Andagao last Thursday evening.

Seized from the suspects were additional eight plastic sachets of shabu, mobile phones, aluminum foil and other drug paraphernalia.

In Boracay, two suspects identified as Rodel Catupang, 22, native of Santo Tomas, Batangas and his companion Kenneth Ledesma, 22, from Roxas City, Capiz were arrested by PAIDSOTG and the Boracay Tourist Assistance Center (BTAC).

They were both arrested in Sitio Tulubhan in Barangay Manoc-Manoc last Friday evening.

Police recovered from them were six small sachets of shabu, buy-bust money of P1,000 and mobile phones. A revolver containing four live ammunitions from Ledesma was also confiscated by the police.

The suspects are facing charges for violations of Republic Act No. 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Acts of 2002.