Young brothers nabbed with PHP 1.9 million shabu in Iloilo

By Jenifer P. Rendon

Two young siblings were arrested in a police anti-narcotics operation on the afternoon of Feb. 26 in Mandurriao, Iloilo City.

Police identified the suspects only as alias AJ, 20, a construction worker, and his older brother, alias Batwan, 21, a passenger assistant officer, both residents of Barangay Bakhaw, Mandurriao.

Members of the Iloilo City Police Office-City Drug Enforcement Unit (ICPO-CDEU), together with the Regional Intelligence Unit 6, the ICPO Special Weapons and Tactics team, Revitalized Pulis sa Barangay Team Bakhaw, and Iloilo City Police Station 10, collared the suspects following a buy-bust operation.

Confiscated during the operation were 12 plastic sachets and two knot-tied plastic bags of suspected shabu and several non-drug items.

Capt. Roque Gimeno III, ICPO-CDEU chief, said the seized drugs weighed around 280 grams with a standard drug price of PHP 1,904,000.

Both suspects are considered high-value drug personalities.

Gimeno said the two brothers apparently took over the illegal drug trade following the arrest of their father last year.

Aside from the two, reports said that other family members could also be involved in the illegal business.

Gimeno confirmed that the arrested suspects are on the Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Council watchlist of illegal drug personalities.

The Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Council is a community-level body mandated under Republic Act 9165 to monitor and coordinate anti-drug efforts at the grassroots level in cooperation with local police and government agencies.

The arrested suspects are currently under police custody at Iloilo City Police Station 10 and will be charged with violation of Republic Act 9165, otherwise known as the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.