Truck Driver Nabbed in P1-M Iloilo Drug Bust

By Jennifer P. Rendon

A delivery truck driver was arrested in a police anti-narcotics operation early morning on Feb. 1 in Pavia, Iloilo.

The suspect, identified as Alias Arje, 49, of Barangay Ungka, Jaro, Iloilo City, was caught in a buy-bust operation along a roadside in Barangay Mali-ao, Pavia.

Members of the Pavia Municipal Police Station, along with the Iloilo Police Provincial Office-Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit (IPPO-PDEU) and the Iloilo Maritime Police Station, arrested Arje after he sold a sachet of suspected shabu for PHP 15,000.

During a body search, police recovered seven more sachets and two knot-tied plastic bags containing suspected shabu, along with several non-drug-related items.

Lt. Gabriel Manguera, Pavia’s deputy police chief, said the confiscated drugs weighed around 150 grams, with an estimated street value of PHP 1,020,000.

The suspect was arrested after a two-week surveillance operation.

Authorities said Arje allegedly sourced his supply from another drug personality based in Iloilo City.

Arje had been previously arrested for a drug-related offense in 2019 in Jaro, Iloilo City. However, he did not disclose how he was released from incarceration.

He is now detained and will face charges for violating Republic Act 9165, also known as the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.