Shabu stuffed in bread seized during drug sting

By Jennifer P. Rendon

 

Innovative but still got busted.

 

A security guard and his pal were arrested in a police anti-narcotics operation evening of February 18, 2021 in La Paz, Iloilo City.

Police collared Raniel Amoroso, 20, of Barangay Zamora Melliza, City Proper and Keith Oliver Estoque, 22, of Barangay Tanza Pala-Pala Zone 1, City Proper after they allegedly connived in selling shabu for PHP17,100 at Lopez Jaena Norte, La Paz.

Amoroso is a security guard at a funeral parlor in Luna Street, La Paz while Estoque is a cook at an eatery in Taft North, Mandurriao.

Members of the Regional Police Drug Enforcement Unit 6 (RPDEU 6) Team 3 and La Paz Police Station later recovered a plastic bag with two bread buns and a pack of pancit canton.

Police operatives then found four sachets of suspected shabu inside one of the buns and 10 more sachets in another bun.

Lieutenant Glenn Soliman, RPDEU team leader, said the seized shabu has a street value of around PHP200,000.

Both Amoroso and Estoque denied owning the illegal drugs.

Amoroso claimed a man he did not know just left the food with him.

Estoque, on the other hand, said he was surprised that he was arrested.

But Soliman said they have been monitoring Amoroso’s alleged illegal drug trade since two weeks ago.

Amoroso had been incarcerated when he was 18 years old for a frustrated murder case. He was released after an amicable settlement.

Soliman said they learned that Amoroso had established a connection at the New Bilibid Prison. The inmate later referred him to a “bodegera” or storekeeper in Iloilo City where he allegedly obtained his drug supply.

On the other hand, Estoque has been involved in petty offenses in the past.

Both suspects are now detained and will be charged for violation of Republic Act 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002).