By Glazyl Y. Masculino
BACOLOD City – The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA)-Special Enforcement Team (SET) seized about 150 grams of suspected shabu worth P1,020,000 from three persons in a buy-bust operation at Buri road, Barangay Mandalagan here yesterday.
Arrested were Dino Dimson, Jan Michael Astorga, and Cris Angelo Abelarde, according to PDEA.
A PDEA agent said the three suspects were placed under monitoring for about two to three weeks.
“May ara kami confidential informant, leading us to conduct the buy-bust operation against them,” he added.
The PDEA agent said the contraband was supposed due for distribution in various areas here until they were busted.
He said the source of the contraband might be outside Bacolod.
The three suspects were considered high value targets after reportedly having in possession of more than 50 grams of suspected shabu, he said.
PDEA also recovered from them the marked money used in the bust and drug paraphernalia.
Meanwhile, one of the parents of the three suspects, as shown in a Facebook live video of DYHB RMN, questioned the PDEA for exposing her son to the public while the inventory of the recovered items was done in the presence of some journalists and barangay officials.
In response, the PDEA agent said that “gin explain ta lang ya sa media and barangay officials kun ano ang nakuha and ang gin-conduct ta.”
He said charges for violation of Section 5 (sale of dangerous drugs) in relation to Section 26 (conspiracy) of Republic Act (RA) 9165 or Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 will be filed against the three suspects who are in the custody of PDEA.
He said that additional charges for Section 11 (illegal possession of dangerous drugs) of RA 9165 will be filed against Dimson, and another charge for Section 12 (illegal possession of drug paraphernalia) will be filed against Astorga and Abelarde.
The three suspects have yet to comment on the allegations against them.
