PHP 4.76M worth of shabu seized in Iloilo drug bust

By Jennifer P. Rendon

Three suspected drug peddlers were arrested in an anti-illegal drug operation in Iloilo City late afternoon on Dec. 18.

Police identified the suspects as alias Agi, 37; alias Dillan, 51, a construction worker; and their sister, alias Madonn, 46.

All three are residents of Barangay Calaparan, Arevalo, Iloilo City.

Members of the Iloilo City Police Office–City Drug Enforcement Unit (ICPO-CDEU), in coordination with the Regional Intelligence Unit (RIU) 6, ICPO Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT), and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Group–Special Operations Unit (PDEG-SOU), conducted the buy-bust operation at Agi’s rented house, which is owned by the arrested siblings’ family.

Police operatives recovered five plastic sachets and nine knot-tied plastic packs of suspected shabu, along with marked buy-bust money and various non-drug items.

Capt. Roque Gimeno III, ICPO-CDEU chief, said the confiscated drugs weighed around 700 grams, with an estimated standard drug price of PHP 4,760,000.

Gimeno said Agi was the target of the operation.

The suspect had allegedly boasted about avoiding arrest despite being involved in the illegal drug trade for 19 years.

He previously worked for Valerie Abantao, the wife of detained big-time drug personality Jovern Abantao.

Valerie was shot and killed by riding-in-tandem gunmen in February 2022.

After her death, Agi allegedly looked after her children and eventually became one of Jovern’s drug distributors.

The two siblings reportedly acted as Agi’s runners, according to Gimeno.

None of the suspects have prior drug-related arrests.

However, Agi was previously detained in 2019 on a human trafficking charge but was acquitted and released in 2020.

The suspects are currently under the custody of ICPS 6 and will face charges for violating Republic Act No. 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.