By Jennifer P. Rendon
In a matter of 18 hours, different police units conducted four separate anti-illegal drugs in Iloilo City on July 18.
The series of operations led to the arrest of eight persons and the confiscation of around P3.060 million worth of illegal drugs.
Arrested were James Michael Chua, 35, of Barangay M.H del Pilar, Jaro, Iloilo City; Michael John Hilario, 29, of Barangay Rizal Pala-Pala, City Proper; and Wenchel Provido, 37, of Barangay Zamora, City Proper district.
Also apprehended were Jasper Pamiroyan, 29, and Siorenstoen Sultan, 22, both of Barangay Simon Ledesma, Jaro; Federico Fuentes, 31, of Barangay North San Jose, Molo; and live-in partners Connie Denosta, 37, and Arnold Evangelista, 44, who are temporarily staying in Barangay Balabago, Jaro.
Chua was nabbed around 1:50 a.m. Tuesday at Barangay Airport, Mandurriao district.
Members of the Iloilo City Police Station seized from him 65 grams of suspected shabu valued at P442,000.
At 12:10 p.m., operatives of the Regional Police Drug Enforcement Unit (RPDEU) 6 and ICPS1 netted Hilario.
But his 47-year-old father Jun-Jun escaped through the back door of their home and slithered his way through a row of houses.
The father-son tandem allegedly conspired in selling a sachet of shabu worth P18,000.
Recovered during the operation were shabu valued at P374,000.
Two hours later, members of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) 6 and PDEA-Iloilo, together with the Iloilo City Police Station 3, conducted another drug sting at Barangay Simon Ledesma, Jaro.
The house where Pamiroyan, Sultan, and Fuentes were arrested was a suspected drug den.
Pamiroyan was the alleged drug den maintainer while the two other suspects could be liable for visiting a drug den.
Anti-drug operatives seized shabu worth P204,000.
The biggest confiscation of the day was in a buy-bust operation at Zone 10, Barangay Calaparan, Arevalo district at 7:35 p.m.
Personnel from RPDEU-6, together with Iloilo City Police Station 6, arrested Provido after the latter allegedly sold a sachet of shabu for P60,000.
Provido yielded around 170 grams of shabu worth P1.156 million.
Five minutes after Provido’s arrest, members of the PNP Drug Enforcement Group (DEG)’s Special Operations Unit from Camp Crame arrested Denosta and Evangelista.
The woman was allegedly the main target of the operation.
The couple hailed from Quezon City and was monitored to be hopping from one province to the other to avoid arrest.
Around 130 grams of shabu worth P884,000 were seized from their possession.
All eight suspects will be charged for violation of Republic Act 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002).
