Tokhang surrenderer falls in P578K drug bust

Police seized more than P500,000 worth of suspected shabu in a drug bust in Pototan, Iloilo Wednesday. (IPPO-PDEU photo)

By Jennifer P. Rendon

An Oplan Tokhang surrenderer was arrested in a police anti-illegal drug operation Wednesday in Pototan, Iloilo.

Robert Kristian Dacara, 38, of Rizal St., P. Ledesma Ward, Pototan, was collared after about a year since he was reported to be peddling shabu in the area.

Operatives from the Pototan Municipal Police Station, Iloilo Police Provincial Office – Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit (IPPO-PDEU), 2nd Iloilo Provincial Mobile Force Company (IPMFC), 603rd Regional Mobile Force Battalion (RFMB) 6, and PNP Drug Enforcement Group led the operation.

Dagatan allegedly sold a sachet of suspected shabu for P20,000 to a police poseur-buyer.

Recovered from him were eight more sachets of shabu, a sling bag, a lighter, and a mobile phone.

Major Roy Tayona, Pototan police chief, said the seized drugs were valued at P578,000.

Tayona said Dagatan is considered as Pototan’s “topmost drug personality.”

He is also the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA)-6’s top 4 drug personality in Iloilo province.

“Since last year, he was already reported to be engaged in drug pushing. We already arrested several of his underlings,” Tayona said.

Every time his downline got arrested, the suspect would go on a short hiatus. He will go back again when he deemed that police are not on his trail.

Tayona believed that Dacara sourced his supply from Barangay Bakhaw, Mandurriao, Iloilo City.

The suspect is now detained and will be charged for violation of Republic Act 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002).