By Jennifer P. Rendon
A 32-year-old woman who went viral for streaming herself using shabu on Facebook Live was arrested on Feb. 12 in Estancia, Iloilo.
The suspect, identified as alias Apple, a resident of Zone 1, Inventor Street, Estancia, was caught alongside two young accomplices.
Police also arrested alias Michael, 21, and Christian, 17, both residents of the same area.
The buy-bust operation led to the confiscation of nearly PHP2 million worth of suspected shabu.
Operatives from the Iloilo Police Provincial Office – Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit (IPPO-PDEU) Team 3, along with the IPPO Provincial Intelligence Unit, Estancia Municipal Police Station, and Iloilo Maritime Police Station, apprehended the suspects.
Authorities said they sold a sachet of suspected shabu for PHP6,000 to an undercover officer.
Police recovered three knot-tied plastic bags, two sachets of suspected shabu, and several non-drug items.
Major Dadje Delima, IPPO-PDEU chief, said the seized drugs weighed 290 grams and had a street value of PHP1,972,000.
Apple was identified as a high-value drug personality, while Michael and Christian were classified as street-level pushers.
Delima said Apple had been on police radar since she streamed herself using shabu on Facebook Live.
She claimed she was unaware that her live-in partner, identified as Dindin, would post the video online.
Dindin, a dismissed police officer, has long been under surveillance for alleged involvement in illegal drug activities.
Authorities identified the couple as one of the biggest drug peddlers in northern Iloilo.
They allegedly sourced their supply from an ex-convict in Iloilo City who was recently released from jail.
Their suspected drug network operated across several northern Iloilo towns and parts of Capiz province.
Apple and her two accomplices are now detained.
They will face charges for violating Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
