SEVEN suspects, including a head teacher, were arrested as authorities have dismantled two drug dens in separate anti-drug operations in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Barmm) and Zamboanga Peninsula.
The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) identified the suspects arrested in Barmm on Monday, March 11, 2024, as Wajid Galib, 63, John Lloyed Compaña, and Ridzwan Ismael Abdulgani, 25.
Gil Cesario Castro, PDEA-Barmm director, said the suspects were arrested when government operatives served a warrant of arrest against Compaña in Purok Kadtatabanga, Rosary Heights 7 village, Cotabato City on Saturday, March 9.
Castro said the three suspects were caught in the act of having pot session when the operatives served the warrant of arrest, resulting in the dismantling of the drug den.
Recovered from the drug den were five grams of shabu packed in 11 heat-sealed transparent plastic sachets worth P34,000, and various illegal drug paraphernalia.
Compaña was already arrested in 2020 due to an offense related to illegal drugs.
Castro said the arrested suspects were detained at the PDEA-Barmm detention facility in preparation for the filing of case against them for violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
The suspects were arrested by operatives of the Bangsamoro government's Internal Security Service, Office of the Senior Minister, and Ministry of the Interior and Local Government together with the personnel of the Bangsamoro Anti-Illegal Drug Task Group.
Meanwhile, PDEA-Zamboanga Peninsula Director Maharani Gadaoni-Tosoc identified the arrested drug den maintainer as Jordan Andao, 29, a mechanic.
Gadaoni-Tosoc said Andao was nabbed in a buy-bust operation that resulted in the dismantling of a drug den around 10:30 a.m. Saturday, March 9, in Purok Talaba in Camanga village, Dumalinao, Zamboanga del Sur.
Andao was arrested together with three drug den visitors, whose identities were not released.
Recovered from the drug den were five grams of shabu worth P34,000, cellular phones, wallet, different illegal drug paraphernalia and marked money.
Gadaoni-Tosoc said that Andao and his three visitors will be charged with violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002. (SunStar Zamboanga)