MORE than P100,000 worth of illegal drugs were seized when members of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Central Visayas (PDEA 7) raided a lodging house along Panganiban Street in Barangay Kalubihan, Cebu City on Saturday night, March 18, 2023.

Leia Alcantara, PDEA 7 spokesperson, said the person renting the lodging house has turned it into a drug den as well as a bordello, attracting all sorts of shady characters.

Alcantara said five persons were arrested during the operation.

She said Archie Villanueva, a 42-year-old resident of Barangay Pahina Central and a cellphone technician who owns a stall on the ground floor of the lodging house, ran the drug den.

Also arrested were 40-year-old Job Esdras Zamora, a safety officer from Barangay Poblacion, Toledo City, Cebu; Leonila Mendez, a 37-year-old resident of Barangay Pahina Central; Crestituto Diyagbel, a 52-year-old resident of Barangay Pardo; and Ronel Ochia, a 43-year-old resident of Barangay Sangat in the southern town of San Fernando, Cebu.

According to the PDEA 7’s estimates, the shabu seized had a street drug price of around P120,000.

Alcantara said they spent more than a month monitoring the lodging house.

She said Villanueva will be charged with maintaining a drug den and selling illegal drugs, while the other four suspects will be charged with violating Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002. (BBT / PJB)