By Felipe V. Celino
ROXAS CITY, Capiz – In a swift response to illegal narcotics activities, authorities arrested three individuals during separate drug buy-bust operations on Saturday, April 6.
The suspects were formally charged on Monday, April 8, at the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office.
The arrests led to the filing of charges under the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, known as Republic Act 9165, against a 63-year-old known as alias Tanining and his 47-year-old live-in partner. Their apprehension occurred within Brgy. Lawaan here in Roxas City.
The authorities recovered four sachets of suspected shabu, valued at P34,000, along with P2,000 in buy-bust money from the duo.
Tanining was previously detained last October for illegal firearm possession during another buy-bust operation at Pueblo De Panay, turning to the drug trade after posting bail for the firearm charge, according to police reports.
Concurrently, the Ivisan Municipal Police, under the command of Police Major Ruby Magallanes, processed charges against 48-year-old Joel Daryl Agnas of Sitio Tagudtod Poblacion Norte.
Agnas’s arrest came on the same evening outside his Poblacion Norte residence in Ivisan town.
From Agnas, officials seized four sachets of suspected illegal drugs worth an estimated P20,400 on the street, along with P500 in buy-bust currency, a coin purse, and a motorcycle.
Major Magallanes noted that Agnas had been on the police radar for some time, leading to the coordinated bust by Ivisan PNP and the Capiz Police Provincial Office’s Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit.
Labelled as elusive due to his habit of frequently changing residences in Ivisan town while conducting his illicit dealings, Agnas now remains in custody alongside the other two suspects at the Roxas City PNP and Ivisan police station pending further legal proceedings.