BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – An estimated P7.1-million worth of suspected shabu was seized in a buy-bust operation at Seaview Subdivision, Barangay Guinhalaran, Silay City, Negros Occidental.
The police also arrested two suspects – 37-year-old Razel Lyam Gamazan and 40-year-old Lennie Nava, both residents of Barangay Pasong Tamo, Tandang Sora, Quezon City.
The buy-bust was carried out late night on July 22.
The suspects were classified as “high value” by the operating policemen from the Regional Drug Enforcement Unit of the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) and the Silay City police station.
Police recovered nine plastic bags containing a total of 29 sachets of suspected shabu with a combined weight of 1,050 grams.
They also recovered suspected drug money amounting to P5,000.
Both suspects were detained at the Silay City police station. Charges for violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 would be filed against them.
The bulk of illegal drugs entering Negros Occidental came from the National Capital Region (NCR), according to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) last month.
The agency made the disclosure following two separate anti-drug operations which resulted to the confiscation of shabu with a combined value of P7.5 million.
The illegal drugs from NCR entering the province via the BREDCO Port in Bacolod City and the Escalante City Port, according to PDEA-Negros Occidental agent “Jyxyvzcky” in a radio interview.
Those being coursed through the BREDCO post pass by Roxas City from the NCR while those being slipped through the Escalante City Port pass by the Tabuelan Port in Cebu from the NCR, the PDEA agent added.
In previous operations conducted not just by PDEA but also by the Philippine National Police and the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), it was discovered that traffickers also shipped illegal drugs from the NCR via the Batangas Port and into the Caticlan Jetty Port in Malay, Aklan.
From Aklan, traffickers would then transport the illegal drugs by land to Dumangas Port in Iloilo province before finally landing in their final destination – Bacolod City.
Earlier in January, the PCG and PDEA intercepted a drug shipment worth P20.4 million from the NCR.
In March the PCG and PDEA again intercepted another shipment of shabu worth P34 million at the Escalante City port.
Both law enforcement agencies would again trace the shipment back to NCR.
The illegal drugs seized in March was by far the biggest seizure this year./PN
