Drug den, dealer busted in Oro

ANTI-narcotics agents busted a drug den and arrested an alleged big-time drug dealer in Cagayan de Oro City in simultaneous buy-bust operations Thursday afternoon.

Emerson Margate, director of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in Northern Mindanao, said agents swooped down on a drug den allegedly owned by Saddam Sumagayan, 22, inside Bloomingdale Subdivision in Barangay Iponan.

Sumagayan, a resident of Macanhan in Barangay Carmen, was not around during the operation but was later arrested by PDEA agents in a follow-up entrapment operation conducted in a gasoline station along J.R. Borja Extension.

Eleven large sachets weighing 55 grams with an estimated value of P385,000 were seized from his possession.

Also arrested were suspected drug pusher Orville L. Ojastro, 34, a resident of Fairlane in Barangay Kauswagan, Sumagayan’s live-in partner identified as Elizabeth P. Factura, 19; Maryruth S. Bermudez, 20, both residents of Barangay Puntod, and a 14-year-old resident of Macanhan in Barangay Carmen.

According to PDEA, Ojastro was arrested after selling a sachet of shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride) with an estimated .05 grams to an undercover PDEA agent while in Iponan around 5:30 p.m. Thursday.

Anti-narcotics agents also recovered a sachet of shabu worth P5,500.

PDEA considered Sumagayan as a “Top Listed Drug Personality” and tagged him as a “big-time” drug dealer in the city.

The agency said the suspect has been a target of several buy-bust operations in the past.

In an interview over dxIF Bombo Radyo, Margate said the house in Iponan where Ojastro and four other suspects were arrested is the “dropping point” and the “drug den.”

For her part, Bermudez denied the allegation that she is a “runner” of the suspects’ illegal drug activity.

She said she just worked as a house helper of Sumagayan.

“Katabang ra gyud ko ug dili tinuod nga runner ko,” Bermudez told Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro.

Factura also denied having knowledge of her live-in partner’s illegal activity.

Both, however, confirmed they often see several people visiting Sumagayan’s house in Iponan but did not suspect any illegal activity.

“Mosulod man gyud dayon sila og kuwarto unya manirado, ug kon mogawas sila i-lock pud nila ang kuwarto, so wala gyud mi makita,” Factura said.

Charges for violation of Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, have already been prepared against the suspects who are now temporarily detained at the PDEA’s detention facility.