City Hall employee falls in drug bust

By Jennifer P. Rendon

An employee of the Iloilo City Hall was arrested in an anti-narcotics operation morning of June 5, 2021 in Jaro Public Market, Jaro district.

The suspect, 42-year-old Rene Millan, a resident of Gen. Hughes Street, City Proper district, is employed as a street sweeper under the Iloilo City government’s Local Economic Enterprise Office (LEEO).

Members of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) 6 collared Millan after he allegedly sold a sachet of suspected shabu for P1,500 in a buy-bust operation 9 a.m. Friday.

When frisked, Millan also yielded five more sachets of suspected shabu valued at P34,000.

PDEA-6 operatives got wind of the suspect’s involvement in the illegal drug trade following a report from an informant.

Millan was allegedly linked to Antonio Romero, the suspected top drug personality in Iloilo who was arrested in Molo district on Jan. 12, 2021.

Members of the Regional Police Drug Enforcement Unit (RPDEU) Team 3 and PDEA-6 nabbed Romero after selling two plastic sachets of suspected shabu for P50,000. He also yielded around 115 grams of suspected shabu worth P800,000 when frisked.

While he admitted that he was into illegal drug use before, Millan said that he had been a renewed man.

He claimed that PDEA-6 operatives “planted” the evidence allegedly recovered from his possession.

He asserted that he’s been working legally to feed his wife and their two children.

Millan’s direct superior, LEEO chief Maricel Mabaquiao, said she knew Millan to be a good person.

A street sweeper for a decade, he used to be assigned to the Iloilo Central Market before his transfer to the Jaro Big Market.

He is now detained pending the filing of charges for violation of Republic Act 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002).