Kagawad nabbed in PHP 2.86 million shabu bust

By Jennifer P. Rendon

Another village official was arrested in an anti-narcotics operation on the evening of Nov. 24 in Sara, Iloilo.

Alias Anton, 60, a barangay kagawad of Castor village, was arrested in a buy-bust operation in Barangay Aldeguer, Sara.

Members of the Sara Municipal Police Station arrested him after he allegedly sold a sachet of suspected shabu for PHP 13,000.

Police recovered 19 more sachets and two knot-tied plastic packs of suspected shabu from the suspect during the frisking.

Captain Theodore Roosevelt Saboy, Sara police chief, said the seized shabu weighed about 420 grams with a standard drug price of PHP 2,856,000.

Saboy confirmed that the suspect, who had been tagged as a drug user, surrendered under Oplan Tokhang in 2019.

He said Anton had no previous drug-related arrest before this incident.

Saboy added that the suspect was monitored for several months for alleged involvement in illegal drug use and trade.

He said Anton had been placed under surveillance for three months after being involved in a vehicular incident.

Saboy recounted that Anton was brought to a hospital after the incident, and staff looking for his identification reportedly found a sachet of suspected shabu.

“But when we arrived, his family was already there and they already secured his bag,” Saboy said.

Police also received information that the suspect was expecting a supply from alias Cheche before her arrest on Nov. 15 in Sara.

Cheche, known as the Drug Queen of the North, was arrested along with her brother and live-in partner, and they were found with more than PHP 12 million worth of shabu.

Because of Cheche’s arrest, police said Anton sourced his supply from Estancia and distributed it to Sara, San Dionisio, San Rafael and Estancia.

Earlier on Monday, another kagawad who also surrendered under Oplan Tokhang was arrested in Janiuay, Iloilo.

Police said the kagawad was found with about 65 grams of shabu worth PHP 442,000.