P238,000 worth of ‘shabu’ seized

By Glazyl Y. Masculino

BACOLOD City – Two vendors were arrested in separate buy-bust operations that resulted in the confiscation of P238,000 worth of suspected shabu here and in Negros Occidental last Friday.

In Silay City, Benny Pepito, 39, of Barangay Rizal was arrested in the said village after police seized from him 20 grams of suspected shabu worth P136,000.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Mark Anthony Darroca, city police chief, said the suspect was subjected to a drug bust after they received information about his alleged rampant distribution of illegal drugs.

Darroca said the suspect was arrested for the same offense in 2017. He was released from jail in April 2022 after he had served his sentence.

Police also recovered from him the P2,800 marked money and two improvised tooters.

In Bacolod, a fish vendor was arrested after he allegedly yielded 15 grams of suspected shabu worth P102,000 in Barangay Estefania.

Police Captain Francis Depasucat, head of Police Station 4, said that 59-year-old Mayo Panganiban is a street-level and newly identified individual.

Depasucat said they subjected him to one-month monitoring after they received information about his alleged engagement in the illegal drug trade.

Meanwhile, the Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) seized a total of P41,994,678.90 worth of illegal drugs here from April 18 to August 18.

A total of 6 kilos and 175.42 grams of illegal drugs were confiscated and 200 persons were apprehended from 165 police operations, data from BCPO showed.