By Jennifer P. Rendon
The Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) logged another major drug arrest following a more than ₱4 million drug haul within three days.
In less than two hours, ICPO units conducted two separate anti-narcotics operations, recovering over ₱3.2 million worth of shabu.
The first arrest involved 18-year-old John Nathaniel Quibido of Zone 15, Barangay Calaparan, Arevalo, Iloilo City.
He was apprehended around 8 p.m. on October 7 at 3rd Street, Juntado Subdivision, Barangay Calumpang, Molo.
Captain Ryan Christ Inot, CDEU team leader and ICPS4 chief, said officers seized approximately 170 grams of suspected shabu from Quibido, valued at ₱1,156,000.
Quibido, a Grade 11 student, was reportedly employed to deliver shabu in the Molo and Arevalo districts.
During the inventory of seized drugs, Quibido allegedly received a call from an inmate at the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) in Barangay Ungka, Jaro, Iloilo City.
Around 9:25 p.m. that same evening, police arrested Alan Torpio, 37, of Villa Carolina, Barangay Caingin, La Paz, Iloilo City.
Members of the Iloilo City Police Station 1, together with operatives from the Regional Police Drug Enforcement Unit (RPDEU) 6, PNP Drug Enforcement Group, and Iloilo Maritime Police Station, arrested Torpio in a buy-bust operation at Barangay Gen. Hughes, City Proper, Iloilo City.
Torpio allegedly sold a sachet of suspected shabu for ₱20,000.
Police further seized 10 sachets and four knot-tied plastic packs of suspected shabu, weighing around 305 grams and valued at ₱2,074,000.
Captain Roque Gimeno III, ICPS1 chief, said that while the two operations were not connected, it appeared both suspects sourced their supply from the same individual.
Gimeno added that the transactions traced back to the New Bilibid Prison.
Notably, Torpio is the younger brother of Rolando Torpio, a known drug personality in Iloilo City.
Rolando, also known as “Apa” or “Striker,” was the sub-group leader of the Odicta Drug Group and a close associate of the slain drug lord Melvin Odicta.
Rolando Torpio was arrested for a drug-related offense on June 22, 2017, at a relative’s home in Barangay Sto. Domingo, Arevalo, Iloilo City.
Both Quibido and Torpio are now detained and will be charged with violating Republic Act 9165, the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
