TWO high-value individuals (HVIs) and three street-level individuals (SLIs) were arrested in a buy-bust operation conducted by the Police Regional Office in Western Visayas (PRO 6) in Barangay Tinocuan, Dingle, Iloilo around 1:40 p.m. on August 23, 2025.
Authorities also seized approximately 740 grams of suspected shabu valued at P5,032,000, firearms, and a grenade.
The Iloilo Police Provincial Office Drug Enforcement Unit (Ippo-Deu) Team 2 led the operation with the support of PDEU Team 1, Ippo Special Weapons and Tactics Team, Dingle Municipal Police Station (MPS), 603rd Mobile Company of the Regional Mobile Force Battalion in Western Visayas (RMFB 6), and the Provincial Intelligence Unit.
The arrested suspects were identified as alias Niel, 39, the primary target of the operation; alias Ben, 55, jobless—both listed as HVIs; alias John, 31, single, jobless; alias Frans, 30, with live-in partner; and alias Jerry, 44, jobless, and a resident of San Ildefonso, Bulacan. The other suspects are residents of Dingle, Iloilo.
Recovered items included seven big heat-sealed packs of suspected shabu, two regular packs, and three small packs; one long-barrel homemade 12-gauge shotgun; one homemade AR 15-9mm rifle; one suspected airsoft rifle; one M67 high-explosive fragmentation hand grenade; and other non-drug items.
The suspects are currently under police custody and will face charges for violating Republic Act (RA) 10591, or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act of 2013, and violating RA 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
Police Brigadier General Josefino Ligan, regional director of PRO 6, commended the units involved in the operation.
“This operation clearly proves that our personnel on the ground remain relentless in pursuing individuals involved in the illegal drug trade. To the people of Western Visayas, rest assured that we will never stop hunting them down in order to secure a safer and more progressive future for the next generations,” Ligan said. (Leo Solinap/SunStar Philippines)