Live-in couple, friend caught with PHP 1.3 million shabu

By Jennifer P. Rendon

A live-in couple and their friend were arrested in a buy-bust operation that added to the growing list of drug suspects nabbed in Iloilo City.

Alias Ed, 52, of Barangay Sinikway, Lapuz; his partner Marivic, 39; and their companion Ryan, 32, of Barangay Jalandoni Estate, Lapuz, were arrested at the couple’s rented house in Zone 14, Barangay Calaparan, Arevalo district at around 1:43 a.m. on Oct. 9.

Personnel from the Iloilo City Police Office–City Drug Enforcement Unit (ICPO-CDEU), backed by the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team, Regional Intelligence Unit, and Iloilo City Police Station 6, arrested the suspects after they sold a sachet of suspected shabu for PHP 9,000.

Authorities also confiscated four additional sachets, four knot-tied plastic packs of suspected shabu, and various non-drug items.

ICPO-CDEU chief Capt. Roque Gimeno said the total weight of the seized drugs was approximately 200 grams, with an estimated street value of PHP 1,360,000.

Gimeno confirmed that Ed was the main target of the operation.

Village officials had long raised concerns about the couple’s alleged involvement in illegal drug activities.

He said there had been earlier attempts to arrest them, but the suspects were evasive and distrustful of unfamiliar buyers.

A confidential informant assisted authorities during a two-week surveillance that led to the successful operation.

The suspects are now in police custody and will face charges for violating Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.