SEIZED. The drug paraphernalia and firearms recovered from slain drug suspects Mashud Usop and Suharto Tuas during a drug buy-bust operation along Rosales Extension, Rosary Heights 6, Cotabato City on Saturday (May 30, 2020). Five other suspects, believed to be street-level drug peddlers, were arrested in the same operation. (Photo courtesy of PDEA-BARMM)
COTABATO CITY – Police and anti-narcotics operatives neutralized two big-time drug peddlers during a drug buy-bust operation here Saturday afternoon.
Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in the Bangsamoro Region in Muslim Mindanao (PDEA-BARMM) director Juvenal Azurin said the operation was also participated in by the Cotabato City Police Station 2 and Marine Battalion Landing Team (MBLT-5) personnel.
A PDEA agent posed as a buyer and dealt with the suspects, Mashud Usop, 35, and Suharto Tuas, 39, both residents of Rosales Extension, Rosary Heights 6, this city.
Azurin said the suspects have been placed under surveillance for months prior to the drug buy-bust operation at 5:30 p.m.
Seized from them were PHP136,000 worth of shabu contained in two huge sachets, marked money, shabu paraphernalia, a small digital weighing scale, one submachine gun, a Luger pistol, and a .45-caliber pistol.
“One of the suspects pulled a pistol and aimed at the poseur-buyer forcing law enforcers to open fire on them,” Azurin said of the suspects.
Five others who were believed to be “runners” of the drug syndicate were arrested and charged for violation of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002. (PNA)
