By Jennifer P. Rendon
Two sisters were arrested for allegedly conspiring to trade illegal drugs in the City Proper district, Iloilo City.
John Rhea Victoriano, 30, of Zone 3, Barangay Boulevard, Molo, Iloilo City, and her half-sister, Khristine Joy Tingala, 28, of Barangay Bagumbayan, Tigbauan, Iloilo, but temporarily residing in Zone 2, Barangay San Juan, Molo, were apprehended during a buy-bust operation on the evening of September 13 at the New Freedom Grandstand in Barangay Muelley Loney, City Proper.
Members of the Iloilo City Police Station 1 (ICPS1), together with personnel from the Iloilo City Police Office – City Drug Enforcement Unit (ICPO-CDEU), ICPO Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team, PNP Drug Enforcement Group, and Maritime Police Station, arrested the pair after they allegedly sold a sachet of suspected shabu for ₱3,100.
Authorities also recovered 19 more sachets of suspected shabu and several non-drug items.
Captain Roque Gimeno III, chief of ICPS1, stated that the seized drugs weighed around 72 grams, with a standard drug price of ₱489,600.
Victoriano had been previously arrested in 2018 for a drug-related offense. She was released in 2020 after availing of a plea bargaining agreement.
A man named George from Barangay Zamora-Melliza, City Proper, is allegedly the sisters’ drug source. The two had been under police surveillance for almost a year.
The suspects are currently detained and face charges for violating Republic Act 9165, the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
