Jobless man nabbed with P816K worth of shabu

By Jennifer P. Rendon

A 39-year-old man was arrested months after he was placed under police surveillance for alleged illegal drug trade.

Mark Serra, 39, was arrested at his home in P.C. Barracks Road, Barangay Parara Sur, Tigbauan, Iloilo afternoon of April 5.

Members of the Iloilo Police Provincial Office-Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit (IPPO-PDEU), together with the IPPO Provincial Intelligence Unit, 1st Iloilo Provincial Mobile Force Company and Tigbauan Municipal Police Station, collared the suspect after selling of suspected shabu for P20,000.

When frisked after his arrest, Serra yielded 8 sachets of suspected shabu, the P20,000 marked money, and a mobile phone.

Major Harold Rendora, IPPO-PDEU chief, said the seized drugs weighed around 120 grams and valued at P816,000.

Police believed that the suspect has been in operation for more than a year already.

Rendora said that his areas of operation are the towns in the first district of Iloilo.

Serra was placed on the police watchlist after some arrested persons in the first district pointed to him as their primary source.

Serra allegedly sourced his stocks from another distributor in Iloilo City.

He used to be a security guard but has been jobless for a while.

Rendora said that Wednesday’s operation is Serra’s first arrest.

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