A total of 26 million worth of suspected shabu were seized by the authorities, led by the Philippine Drug and Enforcement Agency (PDEA-10), from a businessman from Davao City, Saturday afternoon.
PDEA-10 Regional Director Jigger Montallana, identified the suspect as Arnel Asuncion, a resident of Poblacion, Davao Oriental.
Asuncion was driving a blue Navarra pick-up with plate no. GAC-3351 when he was arrested in a buy-bust operation while at Purok 32, Barangay Maria Christina, Iligan City at about 5:30 pm.
Prior to the arrest, Montallana said his team conducted a buy-bust operation where they were able to buy two pieces of big self-sealing transparent plastic sachets with a label “Mendrez” weighing one kilo.
The poseur buyer handed the suspect P500,000 cash as agreed as a down payment.
During the further search, the raiding team recovered another four knot-tied transparent plastic cellophane weighing 4,000 grams from Asuncion’s possession.
Some other items which were taken from the suspect were one mobile phone, a genuine P1,000 bill placed on top of the boodle buy-bust money, a black sling bag, and an identification card.
The suspect’s vehicle was also held and is now being impounded for investigation purposes.
Montallana said the suspect who is considered a high-value target and a member of a dreaded drug syndicate based in Davao city, had been a subject for two months of surveillance.
The illegal drugs he was carrying were supposed to be distributed in Region 10.
Montallana said his office is still in the process of an investigation regarding information that the source of volumes of drugs is in Lanao del Sur
Other law enforcers who joined the operation were PDEA Misamis Oriental, PDEA-10 Regional Special Enforcement Team, PDEA Iligan-Lanao del Norte, 4th Mechanized Infantry Battalion, 2nd Mechanized Infantry Battalion, Iligan City Police, among others
The suspect is now temporarily detained at the mini-cell of PDEA-10 headquarter.
