Pregnant woman tests positive after Jaro drug bust

By Jennifer P. Rendon

A pregnant woman arrested in an anti-drug operation in Jaro, Iloilo City, tested positive for shabu use, police confirmed.

The Iloilo City Police Office-City Drug Enforcement Unit said the suspect, identified only by the alias Sara, underwent drug testing on the same day of her arrest on June 11.

Capt. Roque Gimeno III, ICPO-CDEU chief, said the 40-year-old suspect was six months pregnant when she was arrested in a buy-bust operation at her home in Barangay Simon Ledesma, Jaro.

Her live-in partner, identified by the alias GongGong, was also the subject of the operation but evaded arrest.

Police said GongGong fled through the back door and jumped into a river.

Members of the ICPO-CDEU, the ICPO SWAT Team, Iloilo City Police Station 9, and the Iloilo Maritime Police Station arrested Sara after she allegedly sold a sachet of suspected shabu for PHP 6,000.

Police said they recovered eight more sachets of suspected shabu from her possession.

Gimeno said the seized shabu weighed about 70 grams and had a standard drug price of PHP 476,000.

Shabu is the local term for methamphetamine hydrochloride, a prohibited substance under Philippine law.

Reports said Gimeno’s team also arrested Sara and GongGong in November 2023.

The couple later availed themselves of plea bargaining and were released in September 2025.

Police said the couple was monitored for alleged involvement in the illegal drug trade shortly after their release.

They were placed under surveillance for three weeks before the June 11 operation.

Sara and GongGong face charges for violation of Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.