Three persons fall in motel drug sting

By Jennifer P. Rendon

Three persons were arrested in a police anti-narcotics operation afternoon of August 15, 2021 inside a pension house in City Proper district, Iloilo City.

The suspects were identified as Michael Baluyot, 26, of Zone 1, Arroyo St., Sta Barbara, Iloilo; and live-in partners Ghirlie Ann Carlos, 26, who hails from Barangay Nagba, Tigbauan, Iloilo, and Jose Kim Lustro, 26, of Calinog, Iloilo.

Baluyot and Carlos used to work as masseuses but had been out of job since their workplace temporarily closed due to Iloilo City’s quarantine status.

Members of the Iloilo City Police Office – City Drug Enforcement Unit (ICPO-CDEU) arrested the trio after a one-week surveillance operation.

Lieutenant Colonel Rene Obregon, ICPO-CDEU chief, said they have been receiving information of alleged drug trade at the pension house.

Baluyot and Carlos, together with her live-in partner, had been renting separate room at the pension house located at Ledesma Street for almost two months already.

There were reports that they even allowed customers to use drugs inside their rented room.

CDEU operatives first collared Baluyot after he allegedly sold a sachet of suspected shabu for P9,600.

When pressed for his supplier, he allegedly pointed to Carlos and Lustro who were staying in an adjacent room.

Baluyot yielded 10 sachets of suspected shabu worth around P40,000.

Three more sachets of suspected shabu with a street value of P18,000 were recovered from the couple.

The three suspects admitted to using illegal drugs.

Obregon said the trio had at least two suppliers where they sourced their shabu supply.

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