P1.8-M Drug Bust Nets Woman, Cohort

By Jennifer P. Rendon

A 29-year-old woman and her alleged accomplice were arrested during a police anti-illegal drug operation late morning on November 27 in City Proper, Iloilo City.

The suspects, identified as Lyndy, 29, and her neighbor Mark, 34, were apprehended at Lyndy’s house in Barangay Muelle Loney, City Proper.

Members of the Iloilo City Police Station 1, along with operatives from the Regional Police Drug Enforcement Unit (RPDEU) 6, Iloilo City Drug Enforcement Unit (ICPO-CDEU), ICPO Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT), and the Philippine National Police Drug Enforcement Group (PDEG), conducted the operation.

Authorities said the suspects sold a sachet of suspected shabu for PHP 7,000 before their arrest.

Police recovered 16 additional sachets and four transparent plastic bags of suspected shabu, along with other non-drug items, during the operation.

Captain Roquero Gimeno III, Iloilo City Police Station 1 chief, said the seized drugs weighed approximately 275 grams and had a standard drug price of PHP 1,870,000.

Gimeno confirmed that Lyndy was the primary target of the operation.

Mark was at her house at the time of the drug sting, he added.

According to Gimeno, Lyndy allegedly served as a “bodegera” (storage handler) for illegal drug supplies linked to inmates at the New Bilibid Prison, where her husband is also incarcerated.

Authorities reported that Lyndy managed around 500 grams of shabu for distribution.

She allegedly used roll-on/roll-off (Ro-Ro) vessels to transport the drugs and relied on Mark to deliver supplies to distributors in the City Proper district.

The suspects are currently detained and will face charges for violating Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.