BUSTED. Government forces seized PHP34 million worth of shabu Monday night (April 8, 2024) during an entrapment operation in Malabang, Lanao del Sur. The suspect, a resident of Cotabato City, was nabbed after he sold the illegal drug to an undercover agent along the national highway in Malabang town. (Photo courtesy of Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao)
COTABATO CITY – Anti-narcotics agents arrested a “big-time” drug peddler and seized five kilos of shabu worth PHP34 million during a buy-bust operation in Lanao del Sur town of Malabang on Monday afternoon.
In a statement Tuesday, Director Cesario Gil Castro of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (PDEA-BARMM), said the operation was jointly conducted by police and military units, including agents from the National Intelligence Agency (NICA) in Malabang, Lanao del Sur.
Castro identified the suspected drug dealer as Zacaria Jaji Nandang alias Dats, a resident of Cotabato City.
Seized from Nandang were five kilos of shabu, the boodle money amounting to PHP1 million, a mobile phone, and his vehicle.
The suspect dealt with an undercover agent during the entrapment operation, Castro said.
The suspect is detained at the PDEA-BARMM custodial facility in Cotabato City while waiting to be charged with violation of RA 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
The suspect and the seized pieces of evidence were presented to the media in a press conference by Castro and BARMM Police Regional Director Brig. Gen. Prexy Tanggawohn on Monday night. (PNA)
