By LIEZLE BASA IÑIGO, CHITO CHAVEZ
Authorities arrested a Chinese national and his Filipino driver in a buy-bust operation that led to the seizure of P850 million worth of suspected shabu on Thursday, Oct. 2, on Romulo Highway in Barangay Polong, Bugallon, Pangasinan.
The suspects, identified by their aliases “Monkey,” 40, and “Gardo,” 54, were listed as high-value targets (HVTs) by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).
They were apprehended during an entrapment operation conducted around 12:50 p.m., following weeks of surveillance and intelligence gathering linked to syndicated drug trafficking networks.
Recovered from the suspects were approximately 125 kilograms of crystal meth, packed in 125 separate packages, concealed inside a Hyundai Starex van.
Authorities also confiscated a mobile phone and the marked buy-bust money used in the operation.
PDEA Director General Isagani R. Nerez credited the success of the operation to the strategic use of intelligence from previous cases.
“All extracted information was used to our advantage, resulting in the arrest of these high-value drug personalities and the confiscation of a large sum of illegal drugs,” Nerez said.
The operation was executed through the coordinated efforts of multiple law enforcement and intelligence units, including PDEA Intelligence Service (lead unit), PDEA Regional Office I – Pangasinan Provincial Office, Pangasinan Police Drug Enforcement Unit (PDEU), Provincial Intelligence Unit (PIU), 1st Provincial Mobile Force Company (PMFC), PNP Drug Enforcement Group (PDEG), Regional Intelligence Division (RID) – PRO1, Regional PNP Drug Enforcement Unit (RPDEU) – PRO1, Bugallon Municipal Police Station (MPS), National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA), and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Counterintelligence Group.
The suspects are now in custody and will face charges for violating Sections 5 and 11 of Article II of Republic Act 9165, also known as the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
