By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga
An estimated P20.4 million worth of suspected shabu was intercepted by joint elements of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG)-Negros Occidental, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA)-Negros Occidental, Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO), and the Philippine National Police-Maritime Group at the BREDCO Port in Bacolod City yesterday afternoon.
Police identified the arrested as Aslanie Desomangcop Usman, a resident of Lopez Jaena St. in the city’s Barangay 31, and Mohammad Ambulo, a resident of Villa Angela Subdivision in Barangay Villamonte.
Police Station 2 commander, Police Captain Paul Vincent Pendon, said K-9 teams from the PCG and PDEA were conducting a routine inspection of vehicles at the roll-on/roll-off vessels when their drug-sniffing dogs alerted the authorities.
Upon checking the suspects’ vehicle, a white Toyota Altis sedan, they discovered the three vacuum-sealed cellophane bags containing suspected shabu with a combined weight of three kilos.
In separate information provided by the PCG-Negros Occidental, the suspects originated from Metro Manila and traveled to the province via roll-on/roll-off vessel from Batangas to Caticlan, Aklan, then traveled by land and boarded a Bacolod-bound vessel from Dumangas in Iloilo.
Police and PDEA agents, meanwhile, believe the suspects are planning to either sell-off or distribute the suspected shabu to druggies in Negros Occidental.
The suspects are currently under the custody of PDEA-Negros Occidental, facing illegal drug charges./DGB, WDJ