Two nabbed in PHP1-M drug bust in Iloilo province

By Jennifer P. Rendon

A laborer and his companion were arrested during an anti-illegal drugs operation on the evening of July 17 in Sara, Iloilo.

Alias Joseph, 41, of Barangay Aspera, Sara, and alias Jason, 38, of Barangay Poblacion, Barotac Viejo, were caught in a buy-bust operation at Joseph’s house.

They allegedly sold a sachet of suspected shabu worth PHP1,000 to a police poseur buyer.

Operatives from the Sara Municipal Police Station and the Iloilo Police Provincial Office–Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit (IPPO-PDEU) Team 3 recovered two knot-tied sachets, five plastic sachets of suspected shabu, and several non-drug items from the suspects’ possession.

Capt. Theodore Roosevelt Saboy, Sara police chief, said the seized drugs weighed about 160 grams with an estimated standard drug price of PHP1,088,000.

Saboy said Joseph, classified as a high-value individual, was the primary target of the operation.

He was previously arrested in a buy-bust in August 2014.

He was released from jail in April 2025 after serving his sentence.

Jason, considered a street-level pusher, was also arrested in a buy-bust in June 2023.

He was provisionally released in December 2024 after posting bail.

Investigators said the suspects sourced their illegal drugs from Estancia, Iloilo, and distributed them in Sara and nearby towns.

Both are detained and will be charged with violating Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.