Butcher, cohort arrested in PHP 578,000 drug sting

By Jennifer P. Rendon

A butcher and his alleged accomplice were arrested in a police anti-illegal drug operation early evening on March 9 in Jaro, Iloilo City.

The suspects, identified only by their aliases Sherwin, 44, and Jem, 39, a construction worker, were apprehended in a buy-bust operation at their residence in River Plains Subdivision, Barangay Lanit, Jaro.

Members of the Iloilo City Police Office City Drug Enforcement Unit, together with the Regional Intelligence Unit 6, Iloilo City Police Office Special Weapons and Tactics Lanit Team, Revitalized Pulis sa Barangay Team, and Iloilo City Police Station 3, arrested the suspects after they allegedly conspired to sell a sachet of suspected shabu for PHP 15,000.

Police recovered seven more sachets of suspected shabu and several non-drug items.

Capt. Roque Gimeno III, chief of the Iloilo City Police Office City Drug Enforcement Unit, said the seized shabu weighed about 85 grams and had a standard drug price of PHP 578,000.

Police classified both suspects as high-value individuals.

Authorities said only Sherwin had a previous drug-related arrest.

He was arrested in a buy-bust operation on Nov. 10, 2024.

Sherwin was released from incarceration on Dec. 15, 2025, after availing himself of a plea-bargaining agreement.

Police said he was again monitored for allegedly returning to illegal drug activity shortly after his release.

Gimeno said Sherwin’s other siblings are now behind bars for the same offense.

Sherwin and Jem are now detained and will be charged with violating Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

Buy-bust operations remain among the police’s primary enforcement measures against the illegal drug trade in Iloilo City.