P340M worth of 'shabu' seized, 2 suspects nabbed in Muntinlupa

Joint operatives of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) on Friday morning confiscated P340 million worth of shabu and arrested two drug suspects in an operation in Barangay Putatan, Muntinlupa City.

In a statement, the PDEA said it conducted the operation with the police and found illegal drugs in multiple packages, including:

• a carton box containing 25 golden aluminum packs
• a piece of luggage containing 20 vacuum-sealed orange packs with the label "Cote d'Ivoire"
• an eco bag containing five vacuum-sealed orange packs with the label "Cote d'Ivoire"

According to PDEA, the total weight of the confiscated illegal drugs was 50 kilograms with a street value of P340 million.

“Iniimbestigahan po natin ngayon kung saan po galing ito, at tsaka kung sino yung supposed din na pagbibigyan ng iba. Under follow-up operations po 'yan,” said PDEA spokesperson Atty. Joseph Frederick Calulut in Jonathan Andal's report on ''24 Oras.''

(We are investigating where this came from and who the supposed receivers of the other packages are. This is under follow-up operations.)

The PDEA identified the arrested individuals as alias "Tita Joy" and "Liezel."

They will face charges for the sale and possession of dangerous drugs under the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

According to PDEA, the suspects were affiliated with a drug group that operated within Metro Manila and nearby areas.

“Sa ngayon, hindi namin puwedeng i-bulgar po yung pangalan. We will still be having follow-up operations regarding their cohorts. This is a big dent doon sa illegal drug transaction po ng grupong ito,” Calulut added.

(As of now, we can’t disclose the names. We will still be having follow-up operations regarding their cohorts. This is a big dent in the illegal drug transactions of this group.)

The seized items will be submitted to the PDEA Laboratory Service for further examination and testing.

The PDEA said the first eight months of the Marcos administration saw 95% fewer deaths during anti-drug operations than the same period under the Duterte government.

The current administration has also carried out fewer anti-drug operations.

“Dito mo makikita na we respect human rights. Less ang mga namamatay na drug suspect ngayon,” Calulut said.

(This is where you will see that we respect human rights. There are fewer drug suspects dying now.) — with Jiselle Anne Casucian/VDV/VBL, GMA Integrated News