Couple nabbed in P442,000 Drug Sting

By Jennifer P. Rendon

A couple was arrested in a police anti-narcotics operation on the evening of February 26 in Pavia, Iloilo, just one week after they began living together.

The suspects, identified as Jayson Lozada, 33, and his live-in partner Elen Balquin, 47, were residing in Deca Homes Subdivision 1, Barangay Pandac, Pavia.

Balquin, originally from Barangay Cabugao Norte, Pavia, is a land-based overseas Filipino worker (OFW) who had been employed in Kuwait.

The couple, who had been in a long-distance relationship for two years, had only started cohabiting for a little over a week. She was scheduled to return to Kuwait the following week.

The couple was apprehended by members of the Pavia Municipal Police Station and the Iloilo Police Provincial Office – Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit (IPPO-PDEU) at Purok 4, Pavia, after they sold a sachet of suspected shabu for P2,000.

Found in the man’s possession were 14 sachets of suspected shabu and various non-drug items.

Major Dadje Delima, Pavia police chief, reported that the seized drugs weighed approximately 65 grams with an estimated value of P442,000.

Lozada had been previously arrested for a drug-related offense in 2013 and was released in 2022. He had entered a drug rehabilitation program but had not yet completed it.

Although Lozada was the primary target of the sting operation, Balquin was also taken into custody after she was observed assisting him with the repackaging of shabu sachets.

The couple is now detained and faces charges under Republic Act 9165, the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.