Swedish national nabbed for drugs

JOINT anti-narcotics and police personnel have arrested a Swedish national after he allegedly sold approximately one kilogram of methamphetamine hydrochloride, popularly known as shabu, worth P5 million to a poseur-buyer during a buy-bust operation recently in Parañaque City.

Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Director General Undersecretary Arturo Cacdac, Jr. identified the Swedish national as Bjarne Schelin, 65 years old, a retired marine engineer who is married to a Filipina and a resident of Parañaque City.

Cacdac said the reports submitted to him by the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) revealed that Schelin has been staying in the country for almost 25 years and is allegedly a member of a trans-national drug trafficking syndicate acting as a local distributor from sources in Thailand, China, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and Malaysia.

At about 11:30 a.m. on January 12, combined elements of PDEA Regional Office-National Capital Region (PDEA RO-NCR) and Parañaque City Police Office Station 9 conducted a buy-bust operation along Manuel Quezon Street, Malacañang Village, Barangay San Antonio, Parañaque City which resulted in the arrest of Schelin after he sold a big plastic bag containing approximately one kilogram of shabu to a poseur-buyer.

Operatives also seized from Schelin a cellular phone which he utilized in his illegal drug transactions.

A case for violation of Section 5 (Sale of Dangerous Drugs), Article II of Republic Act 9165, or The Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 is now being prepared for filing in court against the suspect. (SDR/Sunnex)