BUSTED. Personnel of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Pangasinan Provincial Office as the lead unit, Urdaneta City Police Station, and 104th Maneuver Company Ilocos Regional Mobile Force Battalion confiscate on Wednesday (April 21, 2021) PHP102,000 worth of suspected shabu from a newly-identified drug personality. The buy-bust operation was conducted in Urdaneta City. (Photo courtesy of PDEA Pangasinan)
URDANETA CITY, Pangasinan – Anti-narcotics agents have seized suspected shabu worth PHP102,000 from a newly-identified drug personality in a buy-bust operation at Barangay Camantiles here on Wednesday.
In an interview on Thursday, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Pangasinan team leader Rechie Camacho identified the suspect as Marben Sanchez, 42, company driver, and a resident of Barangay Pantal Manaoag town.
“A buy-bust operation was conducted by joint personnel of PDEA Pangasinan Provincial Office as the lead unit, Urdaneta City Police Station and 104th Maneuver Company Ilocos Regional Mobile Force Battalion against the suspect, which resulted in his arrest,” he said.
He added that Sanchez sold three sachets of suspected shabu with an estimated weight of 15 grams and other drug paraphernalia to an agent who posed as a buyer.
“Arrested suspect and confiscated pieces of evidence are now under the custody of PDEA Pangasinan Provincial Office for proper disposition as the case against the suspect is being readied,” he said.
Camacho said the suspect was a newly-identified drug personality in the province although he is not considered a high-value target (HVT).
“He just surfaced recently. There are some parameters we consider for someone to become an HVT. Sanchez did not meet the criteria”, said Camacho.
Sanchez, however, was said to get his supply of shabu from the National Capital Region (NCR).
Authorities are currently investigating how he was able to import supplies from the NCR to Pangasinan amid travel restrictions and strict border checkpoints.
Meanwhile, Camacho said drug-sniffing dogs are making rounds in shipping and logistics points in the province after reports of illegal drugs being stuffed into deliveries through couriers were received.
In Dagupan City, suspect Dennis Nebreda aka ‘Kulas’, 21, a resident of Barangay Mayombo Dagupan City, was arrested in a drug-bust operation by the members of Dagupan police.
He sold two heat-sealed transparent plastic sachets containing suspected shabu to a cop posing as a buyer.
One genuine PHP 1,000 bill and boodle money was recovered from Nebreda, along with a tricycle he used in the transaction. (PNA)
