P7.17-M shabu haul in Iloilo City sting

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By Jennifer P. Rendon

An anti-narcotics operation on March 18 in City Proper, Iloilo City, led to the capture of five individuals by the Regional Police Drug Enforcement Unit 6 (RPDEU-6).

Those detained include Wilmon Chua, 43, pedicab driver of Barangay Tanza, Bonifacio; Kurt Villacrusis, 25, of Barangay Rizal Estanzuela; Edilberto Dinsay, 25, and Romulo Salvador, 52, from Barangay Tanza Baybay; and Marl Dolorosa, 22, from Barangay San Isidro, Jaro district.

Chua, Villacrusis, and Dinsay are considered “high-value drug personalities,” whereas Salvador and Dolorosa are “street-level pushers” per police records.

The operation’s lead, Captain Glenn Soliman of RPDEU-6, revealed that an additional suspect evaded capture.

The RPDEU-6, alongside Iloilo City Police Station 1 and the City Drug Enforcement Unit (ICPO-CDEU), executed the sting that led to these arrests.

Chua and Villacrusis allegedly sold a P14,000 sachet of suspected shabu at around 4:32 a.m. at Dinsay’s residence.

Subsequent searches resulted in the recovery of a blue backpack containing a shoebox and a brown paper pouch with shabu, fourteen sachets from the arrested suspects, and ten knot-tied plastic packs associated with Dinsay, Villacrusis, Chua, and the suspect who escaped.

Officers also confiscated P1,850 in cash, an Android phone, a keypad phone, and various other items.

Soliman announced that the total weight of the confiscated drugs is approximately 1.055 kilograms, valued at P7,174,000.

This incident follows a substantial seizure on March 7, where RPDEU-6 officials secured 1.5 kilograms of shabu worth P10.2 million in Barangay Sto Rosario, City Proper.

In another operation on March 16, Iloilo City Police detained four suspects in Jaro, Iloilo City.

The arrested are Julius Aquino, 59, a jeepney driver; Kirk Patrick Bunsay, 40, a construction worker; Stephen Bunsay, 38, a bouncer; and John Rey Gefes, 26, all residents of Barangay Lanit, where the bust took place.

The Iloilo City Police Office – City Drug Enforcement Unit (ICPO-CDEU), together with Station 3 and the Maritime Police Station – Iloilo, apprehended the quartet after a transaction involving an P8,000 sachet of suspected shabu. Twelve additional sachets were also seized.

The confiscated substances, weighing around 90 grams, are valued at P612,000.

Aquino and Kirk Patrick are classified as high-value individuals, while Stephen and Gefes are categorized as street-level pushers.

Currently, the street price of shabu in the city is estimated at P20,000 per sachet.

The detainees are now in custody and face charges under the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, Republic Act 9165.