P1.2-M ‘shabu’ seized, 17 persons nabbed

By Glazyl Y. Masculino

BACOLOD City – Seventeen persons were arrested while P1,258,200 worth of suspected shabu were seized in a series of buy-bust operations here and in Negros Occidental from Feb. 19 to 22.

Around P1,081,400 worth of suspected shabu were seized here, while P176,800 of the same contraband were confiscated in the province.

Two big drug recoveries were reported here in Barangays Singcang-Airport and Mandalagan.

Operatives of Police Station 8 busted fish vendor Hector Deximo, 32, of Talisay City, after he allegedly yielded 50 grams of suspected shabu worth P340,000 in Barangay Singcang-Airport.

Police Captain Glenn Montaño, head of Police Station 8, said Deximo allegedly served as a drug courier. But he did not divulge the person who hired him to deliver the drugs.

Montaño said that it took two weeks to monitor Deximo after they received information about his alleged engagement in the illegal drug trade.

He said the suspect was previously arrested for a drug offense and was released from jail in 2021 after serving his sentence.

Later that night, operatives of the City Drug Enforcement Unit (CDEU) also arrested Rowena Ponce, 44, and Alter Hernaez, 32, both residents of Barangay Mandalagan, last Tuesday following the confiscation of 75 grams of suspected shabu worth P510,000.

Aside from the two operations, policemen also apprehended six individuals in Barangays 27, 2, Vista Alegre, 35, and 30 here, confiscating P231,400 worth of suspected shabu.

In the province, eight persons were arrested in the cities of Silay, Bago, Talisay, Victorias, and La Carlota, and the town of Pontevedra.