Woman Arrested in PHP1.7M Drug Bust in Iloilo

By Jennifer P. Rendon

A 26-year-old woman from Pilar, Capiz, was arrested in an anti-illegal drug operation on the afternoon of Feb. 23 in Pavia, Iloilo.

The suspect, identified only as “Tata,” was apprehended at her rented house in Barangay Jibao-an, Pavia. She is a resident of Barangay Binawbawan, Pilar.

Members of the Iloilo Police Provincial Office-Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit (IPPO-PDEU) Team 1, along with personnel from the IPPO Provincial Intelligence Unit and Pavia Municipal Police Station, arrested Tata after she allegedly sold a sachet of suspected shabu worth PHP14,000 to a police poseur buyer.

Authorities recovered six more sachets and two knot-tied plastic packs of suspected shabu from the suspect.

Maj. Dadje Delima, IPPO-PDEU chief, said the confiscated drugs weighed around 260 grams, with an estimated street value of PHP1,768,000.

According to Tata’s cousin, she had been renting a relative’s house in Pavia for about five months.

Delima said Tata was not on the police watchlist of illegal drug personalities and had no prior drug-related arrests.

However, an earlier police operation in Estancia, Iloilo, led authorities to her identity. She was placed under surveillance for about a month before the buy-bust operation was conducted Sunday afternoon.

Police initially targeted Tata and her two alleged cohorts, but the others failed to return to her rented house before the operation was carried out.

The suspect allegedly sourced her drug supply from Roxas City, Capiz, and Calumpang, Molo, Iloilo City.

Tata is now detained and will face her third case for violating Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.