DRUG HAUL. Drug enforcement agents of Bacolod City Police Office arrest Ma. Faith Salaver Equibal (seated, left) in a sting operation in Purok Narra Baybay, Barangay 8 Saturday night (Feb. 10, 2024). The suspect yielded 312 grams of shabu valued at PHP2.121 million. (Photo courtesy of Bacolod City Police-City Drug Enforcement Unit)
BACOLOD CITY – Five drug suspects were arrested while more than PHP4 million worth of shabu was seized by law enforcers in separate sting operations in the cities of Bacolod and San Carlos in Negros Occidental over the weekend.
In a statement on Sunday, Brig. Gen. Sidney Villaflor, regional director of Police Regional Office-Western Visayas, said the huge amount of illegal drugs confiscated “underscores the unwavering commitment of law enforcement agencies in the region to combat illegal drug activities.”
At past 10 p.m. Saturday, agents of the Bacolod City Police Office-City Drug Enforcement Unit arrested Ma. Faith Salaver Equibal, 56, during a meetup in Purok Narra Baybay, Barangay 8.
Tagged as a high-value individual (HVI), Equibal, a resident of Purok Sigay, Barangay 2, sold a sachet of the prohibited substance worth PHP20,000 to an undercover policeman.
Police then recovered from her possession four big heat-sealed plastic sachets and three knot-tied plastic bags containing 312 grams of shabu.
Priced at PHP6,800 per gram, the seized items were valued at PHP2.121 million.
Up north, four individuals were arrested by operatives of San Carlos City Police Station in a buy-bust along Hope Street in Barangay 5 around 12:30 p.m., also on Saturday.
The suspects were identified as Carlos Dela Peña Opciar, 29; Julius Oscaris Escanillan, 29; Alexis Jeffer Colbe Damandaman, 27; and Reynaldo Abao Dela Peña, 24.
They yielded 18 plastic sachets containing shabu, weighing about 300 grams and worth PHP2.06 million.
Opciar and Escanillan, who are considered HVIs, are both No. 9 in the city police drugs watchlist, while their two companions were tagged as street-level individuals.
All the arrested suspects will be charged with violation of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act. (PNA)
