A MIXED martial arts fighter was arrested after yielding nearly P3 million worth of kush in a drug bust Saturday evening, January 16, 2021, in Cubao, Quezon City.

Gary Espinar, 38, was identified as the source of illegal drugs by suspects arrested in a drug bust on the same day, Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Debold Sinas said Monday, January 18.

Espinar will be charged with violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act.

“The use, sale and distribution of marijuana is highly illegal. I have instructed all units to be extra vigilant and to arrest those who think that they can flood the market with recreational drugs,” Sinas said.

Recovered during the operation were 1.8 kilograms of high-grade cannabis, or kush, valued at P2.824 million.

Sinas said the kush is not manufactured in the Philippines. Those that they intercepted came either from the United States or The Netherlands.

He said they were focusing on illegal party drugs, including kush.

On January 8, airport authorities recovered 535 tablets of ecstasy that were concealed in an air parcel declared as documents from The Netherlands.

A day earlier, over P4 million worth of ecstasy tablets and kush were seized in separate operations in Manila and Rizal. One was arrested while another was killed during the said operations.

On January 10, authorities also arrested two persons who received a parcel from the US that contained 500 grams of kush valued at P600,000.

The drug bust in Cubao was conducted by the Northern Police District Drug Enforcement Unit in a parking lot in Barangay Socorro at around 8:30 p.m. on January 16. (Third Anne Peralta-Malonzo / SunStar Philippines)