Ex-con, pal fall in drug sting; P204K worth of shabu seized

By Jennifer P. Rendon

A man who was incarcerated over a drug offense and his alleged cohort were arrested in a police anti-narcotics operation evening of July 7, 2021 in Lapuz, Iloilo City.

Mark Asturias, 37, and St. Paul Leonard Delles, 36, both residents of Zone 3, Bo. Obrero, Lapuz, were collared in a buy bust operation 10:30 p.m. Wednesday at Barangay Mansaya.

Members of the Regional Police Drug Enforcement Unit 6 (RPDEU-6), together with Iloilo City Police Station 2, and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group 6 (CIDG-6), led the operation against the duo who allegedly sold a sachet of suspected shabu worth P13,000.

Police later seized from the suspects eight more sachets of suspected shabu weighing around 30 grams and valued at P204,000.

Lieutenant Colonel Mark Anthony Darroca, RPDEU-6 chief, said that Asturias is the RPDEU’s “No. 7 priority target.” He was listed as a high-value individual target personality after returning to drug peddling.

Asturias was arrested for a drug-related offense in 2017. He was released from jail two years later after availing of the plea bargaining agreement.

In 2020, Darroca said they monitored that Asturias went back to dealing illegal drugs.

Asturias could have established connections while in jail.

“Our monitoring showed that he’s been sourcing not only from one supplier. His supply was also traced back to Munti (New Bilibid Prison),” Darroca said.

Asturias allegedly belongs to a group that resurrected its illegal drug dealings recently.

But Darroca did not elaborate as they are tracking other group members.

Meanwhile, Delles is considered as a street level pusher. It was also his first arrest for a drug-related offense.

The suspects are now detained and will be charged for violation of Republic Act 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002).