By Jennifer P. Rendon
Two persons were arrested in Jaro, Iloilo City after they allegedly connived to sell illegal drugs.
R-R Inayan, 33, of Jardeleza Subdivision, Barangay Poblacion, Leganes, Iloilo, and Loe Mark Alparaque, 47, of Zone 2, Barangay Bakhaw Mandurriao, Iloilo City, were nabbed in a buy-bust operation at Zone 1, Barangay Democracia, Jaro afternoon of March 8.
Members of the Regional Police Drug Enforcement Unit (RPDEU) 6, together with operatives from the Iloilo City Police Station 3 and the Iloilo City Mobile Force Company, led the operation and bought a sachet of suspected shabu for P19,000 from the duo.
Police later recovered the marked money and five more sachets of suspected shabu from Alparaque.
On the other hand, Inayan yielded eight more sachets of suspected shabu, an improvised pipe, and several folded aluminum foil.
Police also seized two mobile phones, several empty transparent plastic sachets, P1,600 cash, a Honda Click motorcycle, a Honda beat motorcycle, and several non-drug items.
Captain Glenn Soliman, RPDEU-6 team leader, said the substance seized from the two suspects weighed around 55 grams and was valued at P374,000.
Both Inayan and Alparaque are considered high-value individual (HVI) drug personalities.
But Soliman said Alparaque was the target of their operation.
The suspect was arrested for a drug-related offense in 2019.
He was detained at the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP)-Ungka District Jail.
He was released three years later after availing of the plea bargaining agreement.
Inayan was also a detainee but for a robbery case.
The two suspects allegedly sourced their supply from a certain Bon.
They were arrested after a two-month surveillance operation.
Soliman confirmed that they have called the assistance of the Iloilo City Emergency Responders (ICER) after Alparaque displayed difficulty in breathing while he was being frisked.
But when ICER personnel checked, his blood pressure was in the normal range at 130/80.
The suspects are now detained and will be charged for violation of Republic Act 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002).
