DRUG BUST. Silay City Mayor Mark Golez (2nd from right) and city police chief Supt. Noel Polines during the operation at Barangay Guinhalaran that led to the arrest of couple Cydee and Jonah Bajande, who yielded P520,000 worth of “shabu” on Wednesday afternoon (August 22, 2018). (Photo from Mayor Mark J. Golez Facebook page)
BACOLOD CITY -- A total of 11 persons were arrested while more than PHP700,000 worth of “shabu” (crystal meth) were seized in various police operations in five cities in Negros Occidental province in three days, reports of the provincial police showed.
In Silay City, high-value targets Cydee Bajande and his wife Jonah, who were the subjects of a search warrant, yielded 12 sachets of the prohibited substance with an estimated value of PHP520,000.
The couple, both 37 years old, were arrested at the Carmela Valley Subdivision in Barangay Guinhalaran at about 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, the first of three drug operations that day.
The Silay City Police Drug Enforcement Unit, led by Supt. Noel Polines, was assisted by the Regional Mobile Force Battalion 6 (Western Visayas) and the 605th Maneuver Company 1st Platoon during the operation.
The operatives also seized, among others, PHP6,900 in cash as well as one Glock .40-caliber pistol with 26 live ammunition.
In adjacent Talisay City, 20-year-old Christian Junio was arrested during a buy-bust operation in Barangay Zone 2 at 5:15 p.m. on the same day.
The suspect, a resident of Barangay Zone 7, sold PHP500 worth of shabu to a poseur-buyer and was also found to have PHP1,100 in cash and four sachets of the same substance valued at PHP15,000.
The Talisay City police said Junio, a street-level newly-identified drug personality, has links to prominent drug personality Jose “Badjao” Aliguin Jr., a main supplier of drugs in Bacolod City.
In Cadiz City, jobless Jeffany Nene and Jeric Cornel were apprehended during a search warrant operation conducted by anti-drug operatives at 10:50 p.m.
The Station Drug Enforcement Unit, led by Chief Insp. Rocky Desear, seized from the suspects shabu with a street value of PHP200,000.
Nene, 28, who is number one on the station’s drug watch list, yielded 17 big sachets while Cornel, 41, possessed 25 elongated sachets of the prohibited substance.
The operatives also recovered drug paraphernalia, such as digital weighing scale, lighters, and tooters, along with mobile phones.
In La Carlota City, four suspects were arrested in a buy-bust in Zone 5, Barangay 2 at 11:45 a.m. on Thursday.
Police identified them as drug surrenderer Joas Desamparado, 32, a fish vendor; John Rey Gareza, 22, a gas station worker; John Dalumpines, 22, a carpenter; and Jeff Lawrence Ortega, 22, a call center agent.
Aside from Desamparado, the three others are newly-identified drug personalities.
They yielded two sachets of shabu, three tooters, two lighters, and three pieces of PHP100 bills used as buy-bust money.
In San Carlos City, pedicab driver Eduardo Galan, 21, was arrested in a buy-bust along New Era St., Barangay 4 at 11:50 p.m. on the same day.
Operatives found in Galan’s possession three sachets of shabu, a .38-caliber pistol with two live ammunition, as well as the PHP500 buy-bust money.
Still in San Carlos, Rey Requieron, 38, was apprehended in San Juan Tunga, Barangay 5 at 12:55 a.m. on Friday.
Police said the suspect, who is jobless, yielded a gram of shabu worth PHP12,000 after selling a sachet worth PHP800 to a poseur-buyer. (PNA)
