A 32-YEAR-OLD bodegero and his cohort were arrested for allegedly peddling drugs in front of a chapel in Barangay Lagtang, Talisay City, Cebu on Saturday morning, July 9, 2022.
Lieutenant Elwood Ebona, chief of the Drug Enforcement Unit of the Talisay Police Station, identified the suspects as Ariel Contado and Janine May Torres, residents of Sitio Upper Pailob, Barangay Sambag II, Cebu City.
Ebona said they conducted the buy-bust operation in coordination with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in Central Visayas.
The suspects have been the subject of several reports due to their involvement in the illegal drug trade.
Contado and Torres were nabbed around 3:33 a.m. in their homes.
Recovered from the suspects were 20 plastic sachets of shabu weighing 200 grams with a standard drug price of P680,000, P100 marked money, P510 cash believed to be the proceeds from the illegal drug trade and drug paraphernalia.
Ebona said the buy-bust operation was in relation to Oplan Limpyo Talisay and Synchronized Enhanced Managing of Police Operations/Synchronized Anti-Criminal Law Enforcement Operations.
Contado was listed as a high-value individual while Torres was listed as a street-level individual.
Contado and Torres reportedly sold drugs in Tisa, Labangon, A. Lopez area in Cebu City and Lagrange, Talisay City, where they could dispose of 100 grams of shabu every week.
Ebona said the drugs came from a certain "Mark Anthony," who was detained at the Cebu City Jail.
In 2016, Contado was arrested by police for peddling drugs, but he availed of a plea bargain and was released from prison in 2017.
The suspects will be facing charges for violating Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.