Two peddlers, minor fall in Pototan drug sting

By Jennifer P. Rendon

 

Two suspected drug peddlers and a 15-year-old boy were arrested in a police anti-narcotics operation late morning of January 7, 2021 in Pototan, Iloilo.

Cops busted Jissie Cartagena, 31, of Barangay Guadalupe, Janiuay, Iloilo; and Deemer Bornales, 35, and Chris (real name withheld), 15, both residents of Barangay Zamora, City Proper, Iloilo City.

Both Cartagena and Bornales were not new to the illegal drug trade.

Cartagena was arrested in 2015 while Bornales in 2016 for violation of Republic Act 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002).

Members of the Iloilo Police Provincial Office-Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit (IPPO-PDEU), the Iloilo Maritime Police Station, and Pototan Police Station collared the trio in a buy-bust operation around 11:30 am Thursday at the Pototan town plaza in Barangay San Jose Ward.

Cartagena allegedly handed a sachet of suspected shabu to an undercover cop.

After his arrest, Cartagena yielded another sachet of suspected shabu, a mobile phone, and coins.

Meanwhile, police seized from Bornales eight sachets of suspected shabu; the PHP30,100 worth of marked money, a small plastic envelope, two bus tickets, a mobile phone, a lighter, and coins.

Police valued the seized illegal at PHP40,000.

The suspects are now in police custody pending the filing of charges against them.