Ex-cop nabbed in narco bust flunks drug test

Dismissed cop Arnold Gicole after his arrest in a drug buy-bust operation at Brgy. Carida Tapaz, Capiz. (Photo by Tapaz PNP)

By Felipe V. Celino

ROXAS CITY, Capiz – A former member of the Philippine National Police (PNP) who was arrested in a drug buy-bust operation Thursday morning at Barangay Carida, Tapaz, Capiz tested positive for illegal drug use.

Arnold Pisales Gicole, 48, of said barangay did not resist when the Station Drug Enforcement Team (SDET) of Tapaz Municipal Police Station, 602nd Company of Regional Mobile Force Batallion-6, and 2nd Capiz Provincial Mobile Force Company, in coordination with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Region 6, collared him about 3:30 am.

Charges for violation of Republic Act 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drug Act of 2003) were filed against Gicole Friday morning before the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office.

Recovered from him were 16 sachets of suspected shabu, a motorcycle, and P1,500 marked money.

The alleged illegal substance weighed 3 grams with an estimated street value of P20,400. The substance will undergo examination at Iloilo Crime Laboratory.

Gicole was dismissed after serving 15 years in the police service for falsification of public documents.

He is engaged in meat selling since then.