Monday, April 16, 2007 Lanao native nabbed for P200T worth of shabu By Nicolas C. Delfin
FORTY grams of suspected shabu amounting to P240,000 reportedly intended for the Panaad Festival was seized by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) operatives from a 36-year-old resident of Lanao during a buy-bust operation conducted in Purok Katilingban, Barangay 39, Saturday evening.
Arrested by the drug operatives, led by Police Regional OfficeDirector Rolen Balquin, was Diamil Bato, a native of Lanao Del Norte and temporarily residing in Barangay 39, Bacolod City.
"The delivery of the suspected shabu coincided with the Panaad Festival. We believed it was intended for the event," Balquin said.
The operation was conducted after an intelligence report reached us regarding a Muslim personality who arrived in Bacolod City at about 5p.m. Saturday from Cebu bringing suspected shabu for immediate sale, Balquin said.
The PDEA operatives then conducted a buy-bust operation but it, however, failed.
"Our team negotiated to buy five grams of suspected shabu from Bato amounting to P30,000 and agreed to meet in front of University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos (UNO-R) in Lizares Extension, Bacolod at about 7 p.m. Saturday but still he didn't arrive," Balquin said.
Later, however, we waited until he finally agreed to meet with us along Purok Katilingban at around 11 p.m. where we were able to collar him, he said.
"He (Bato) attempted to escape when our poseur-buyer declared arrest after the transaction was completed. He was quickly apprehended," he added. Also seized from Bato's possession were a sachet of suspected shabu weighing one gram worth P1,000, a motorcycle and a knapsack containing 15 plastic sachets of suspected shabu weighing 40 grams.
Other recoveries include assorted plastic sachets, driver's license and a passenger ticket indicating a Cebu-Bacolod route.
Meanwhile, Bato is presently detained at Police Station 1 detention cell prior to the filing of violation of Republic Act 9165 or otherwise known as the Comprehensive Dangerous Drug Act of 2002 against him.
