By Jennifer P. Rendon
Almost P8 million worth of suspected shabu was recovered in a police anti-narcotics operation evening of January 10 in City Proper district, Iloilo City.
Police also collared alleged high value individual (HVI) drug personalities Erwin Guillergan, 28, of Barangay Baldoza, La Paz, and Kim Jaena, 40, of Barangay Ingore, La Paz.
Members of the Regional Police Drug Enforcement Unit 6 (RPDEU-6) led the operation along with personnel from the Iloilo City Police Station 1, Iloilo City Police Office-City Drug Enforcement Unit (ICPO-CDEU) and ICPO Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team.
Guillergan – the main target of the operation – and Jaena were arrested after selling a sachet of suspected shabu for P80,000 at Barangay Malipayon Delgado.
The duo later yielded several sachets of suspected shabu, P1,500 cash, two mobile phones, a coin purse, and several non-drug items.
Police also impounded the suspects’ Chevrolet sedan.
Captain Glenn Soliman, RPDEU-6 team leader, said the seized drugs weighed around 1.170 kilos and were valued at P7,956,000.
Despite the volume of the seized drugs, the suspects denied their shabu peddling activities.
Guillergan even claimed to not use drugs. He claimed he was in the area to meet a seller who sold him a t-shirt with his name on it.
But police noted that the knot-tied plastic bags of suspected shabu were found wrapped in the same shirt.
Jaena, on the other hand, claimed that he used illegal drugs. He even claimed doing pot sessions at a house in Barangay Rizal, La Paz district.
Jaena claimed he was jailed for illegal possession of a firearm in 2003.
Soliman confirmed that the shabu seized from the two suspects might be intended for distribution during the Dinagyang Festival.
He added that Guillergan and Jaena acted as “bodegero” or storage keepers for a drug supplier, whom he did not identify.
It took two months for police to do a surveillance operation before finally arresting the suspects.
Meanwhile, Colonel Joeresty Coronica, Iloilo City police chief, said that the duo’s arrest would have a big impact on the drug distribution for the upcoming Dinagyang Festival.
He added that they would further enhance their intelligence-driven monitoring to keep an eye on other illegal drug distributors in the area.
