Ex-convict arrested in PHP 1.7 million drug sting

By Jennifer P. Rendon

An ex-convict was arrested during an anti-drug operation on the evening of November 5 in Mandurriao, Iloilo City.

Alias Toto, 36, a construction worker from Mandurriao, was caught in a buy-bust operation conducted in Barangay Calahunan.

The Iloilo City Police Office–City Drug Enforcement Unit (ICPO-CDEU), along with Police Station 5, the ICPO Special Weapons and Tactics Team, the Philippine National Police Drug Enforcement Group–Special Operations Unit 6, and the Regional Intelligence Unit 6, carried out the operation after Toto allegedly sold a sachet of suspected shabu for PHP 14,000.

During a body search, police found 10 additional sachets and four knot-tied plastic bags of suspected shabu, along with various non-drug items.

Captain Roque Gimeno III, chief of the ICPO-CDEU, said the recovered drugs weighed approximately 250 grams with an estimated standard drug price of PHP 1.7 million.

Gimeno said the suspect had previously been arrested for a drug-related offense in 2023.

He was released from incarceration in March 2025 under a plea bargaining agreement.

Toto reportedly worked as a runner for his relative Adamson, an inmate also arrested for a drug-related case.

Adamson was allegedly directing Toto in their illegal drug trade.

Toto’s arrest followed a monthlong surveillance operation.

He is now detained and will be charged with violating Sections 5 and 11 of Article II of Republic Act 9165, also known as the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.