OVER P2 million worth of suspected shabu was seized from an ex-convict during a buy-bust on Zuellig St., Barangay Subangdaku, Mandaue City on Friday night, Sept. 25, 2020.
The suspect was identified as high-value target Christian Rey Adante. The 24-year-old resident of A. Lopez, Barangay Labangon in Cebu City recently moved to a boarding house in Lapu-Lapu City.
Maj. Aldrin Villacampa, chief commander of the Opao Police Station, said Ardante had been arrested in Cebu City and convicted of violating Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
He was released through a plea bargain.
Villacampa said they received information from a drug personality they nabbed last week that Ardante was back in the illegal drug trade.
The station’s drug enforcement unit found 300 grams of suspected shabu worth P2,040,000 in Ardante’s possession.
Villacampa said before Ardante’s arrest, he had already sold 200 grams of suspected shabu to a poseur-buyer.
Villacampa said the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic did not stop the suspect from allegedly selling and delivering illegal drugs to the cities of Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu.
He said Ardante could sell half a kilo of drugs worth P3.4 million in a week.
Ardante allegedly admitted that he was just a courier and that his employer was inside the Cebu City Jail.
Ardante has been placed in an isolation cell at the Opao Police Station as part of the station’s Covid-19 protocol. He will also be swabbed for the virus.
Villacampa said they will file charges against Ardante next week. (KFD)