Ex-Convict, Three Others Nabbed in PHP1.5M Drug Sting

By Jennifer P. Rendon

An ex-convict and three others were arrested following a police anti-illegal drug operation on the morning of April 26 in Arevalo, Iloilo City.

Police identified the suspects as alias Junelton, 49, of Barangay Sta. Cruz, Arevalo; Reniel, 26, of Project 3, Barangay Sooc, Arevalo; Jerson, 27, of Project 5, Sooc; and Sherwin, 45, of Zone 13, Barangay Calaparan, Arevalo.

Junelton, Reniel, and Jerson were the targets of a buy-bust operation conducted inside Fatima Subdivision in Barangay Sta. Cruz, Arevalo.

Members of the Regional Police Drug Enforcement Unit 6, together with the Iloilo City Police Station 6, Iloilo City Police Office-City Drug Enforcement Unit, and the PNP Drug Enforcement Group, arrested the trio after selling a sachet of suspected shabu for PHP12,000.

As police were about to arrest the suspects, Sherwin arrived and picked up sachets of suspected shabu from the group.

When frisked, police recovered nine additional sachets of suspected shabu from Junelton and one sachet each from Reniel, Jerson, and Sherwin.

Authorities also seized two mobile phones, two sling bags, and other non-drug items from the suspects.

Captain Glenn Soliman, RPDEU-6 team leader, said the seized shabu weighed around 225 grams with a total standard drug price of PHP1.53 million.

Soliman said Reniel and Jerson were initially the subjects of the buy-bust operation.

However, operatives later learned the duo sourced their supply from Junelton, an ex-convict previously arrested for a drug-related offense in May 2017.

Sherwin, on the other hand, allegedly acted as a runner for a Bureau of Jail Management and Penology inmate and was instructed to pick up the supply from Junelton.

The suspects will face charges for violation of Republic Act No. 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.