By Jennifer P. Rendon
A fish dealer was arrested after he was also caught trading illegal drugs in a police anti-narcotics operation at Barangay Cruz, Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo shortly before midnight of March 4.
Police identified the suspect as Gino Verona, 30, of Barangay Bucaya, San Joaquin, Iloilo.
Members of the Iloilo Police Provincial Office – Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit (IPPO-PDEU), together with the Barotac Nuevo Municipal Police Station, arrested the suspect after he sold a sachet of suspected shabu for P20,000.
When he was later frisked, police recovered eight sachets of suspected shabu, including the buy-bust item, the P20,000 buy-bust money, and several non-drug items.
Major Albert Francis Fortunado, IPPO-PDEU chief, said the seized drugs weighed around 65 grams and has a standard drug price of P442,000.
Police records showed that Verona had no prior drug-related arrests.
He’s been monitored to be in the illegal drug trade for at least three months already.
“He’s slippery. Wala siya nagapasugot sang kaliwaan,” Fortunado said.
Instead, Verona also used the mobile wallet app GCash in getting his customers’ payments.
He will then drop it off at a certain place, photograph it, and send it to his buyers.
“That’s why we initially found it hard to arrest him,” Fortunado said.
Police found a window when the suspect agreed to a meet-up after he was told that the GCash app was offline.
The meet-up was realized after the police already earned his trust.
Fortunado said the suspect used his being a fish dealer in going around the province to sell shabu.
“He traded fish in terms, and he also made rounds to get payment from his customers,” he said.
Verona allegedly got his supply from a dealer in Iloilo City and plied his trade in several towns in the province.
Verona is now detained and will be charged for violation of Republic Act 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2022).
