ILOILO City – Three suspected members of the Abantao drug group were arrested on Monday night in Barangay Caingin, La Paz district in a police buy-bust operation.
They were Archie Tipanan, 35; Eden Rose Robles, 40; and Margareta Concepcion Sorilla, 27. All were residents of Barangay Caingin.
The buy-bust was carried out at around 6:40 p.m. It was a joint operation of the La Paz police station and Regional Drug Enforcement Unit (RDEU) of the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6).
The police recovered a total of 19 plastic sachets of suspected shabu weighing more or less 80 grams and valued at P544,000.
According to Lieutenant Glenn Soliman of the RDEU, the suspects were subjected to over a month of surveillance before the buy-bust.
Tipanan had been detained at the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) prison facility in Barangay Ungka, Jaro district for a drug case but was released in 2019 through a plea bargaining agreement.
“The suspects are also drug users. They are operating in Iloilo city and province,” said Soliman.
They face a charge for violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002./PN
