HIGH-VALUE TARGET. Meljun Grumo, 34, considered a high-value target by Police Regional Office in Caraga, is arrested Saturday (July 11, 2020) in a buy-bust in Trento, Agusan del Sur. Authorities say he yielded PHP141,600 worth of shabu and PHP20,000 worth of dried marijuana leaves. (Photo courtesy of PRO-13 Information Office)
BUTUAN CITY – The series of buy-busts by the different units of Police Regional Office in the Caraga Region (PRO-13) resulted in the confiscation of PHP198,300 worth of shabu and PHP20,000 worth of dried marijuana.
Maj. Renel E. Serrano, PRO-13 public information officer, said the local police and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in Caraga (PDEA-13) arrested Hamza Cayan, 20, in a buy-bust Sunday afternoon in Barangay Baan here
In a statement Monday, Serrano said the operating team seized from Cayan two heat-sealed sachets containing shabu weighing 0.5grams with a value of PHP5,900.
On Sunday evening, police and PDEA personnel arrested Joemari Cupay Lara, 22, in a buy-bust in Purok 2, Barangay Libertad and confiscated from the suspect four heat-sealed sachets containing shabu weighing four grams with a value of PHP27,200.
Serrano said two buy-busts also by the Agusan del Sur Provincial Police Office (ADSPPO) and PDEA personnel against high-value individuals on July 11 in Trento town led to the arrest of Meljun Grumo, 34, and Rennan Baba, 30.
Grumo yielded some 25 sachets of suspected shabu with an estimated value of PHP141,600, as well as five packs of dried marijuana leaves worth PHP20,000, police said.
Baba, meanwhile, yielded 10 sachets of suspected shabu worth PHP23,600, police said.
Brig. Gen. Joselito Esquivel Jr., PRO-13 director, said the suspects will face charges for violation of Republic Act 9165, otherwise known as the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act.
Esquivel vowed the regional police will "relentlessly pursue" illegal drug peddlers in line with President Rodrigo Duterte’s order to eradicate all forms of illegal drugs.
“Our intensive efforts against illegal drugs and all forms of illegal activities are on full swing despite the health crisis we are facing,” Esquivel said. (PNA)
