67 Kilos of Suspected Illegal Drugs Recovered in Joint PDEA-PNP Operation in Barangay Mercedes, Zamboanga City
Four suspected high-value drug personalities were arrested after anti-drug operatives seized around 67 kilograms of suspected illegal drugs worth P455.6 million in Zamboanga City on Wednesday, November 11.
According to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-Zamboanga Peninsula (PDEA-9), the suspects were caught in a buy-bust operation at around 4:52 p.m. along Arcillas Street, Zone 4, Barangay Mercedes, the Philippine News Agency reported.
The suspects allegedly sold two plastic packs containing about two kilograms of suspected shabu to an undercover agent. A follow-up search of the area reportedly yielded around 65 more kilograms of the illegal drug.
The Philippine National Police (PNP) identified the suspects as Sabirin Alisan, Shermahal Halisan, Jul-Asbi Asakil and Abu-Darda Abdulhaih, INQUIRER.net reported. The operation was conducted under “Coplan Shadow Ice.”
Also recovered were a digital weighing scale, a sedan, two mobile phones, four identification cards and a money transfer receipt. Authorities noted that the drug packages bore an “8888” marking, which investigators are looking into to trace the origin of the shipment.
Barangay Mercedes chairperson Romeo Fayluga said the suspects had bought a property and had been staying in the village for about five months, but residents were not aware of any illegal drug activity involving them, The Chronicle reported.
PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. ordered police units to look beyond the four suspects and trace the sources, financiers and distributors behind the shipment. “More than the value of the seized drugs, what matters is the lives we may have saved and the harm we would have prevented had they been distributed not only in Mindanao but across the country,” he said, SunStar reported.
The operation was carried out by joint PDEA teams from the Zamboanga Peninsula, Cebu and the National Capital Region, with support from the Zamboanga City Police Office and the police Regional Drug Enforcement Unit.
The four suspects are now detained and will face charges for violation of Sections 5 and 11 of Republic Act No. 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, as authorities continue to investigate their possible links to a larger drug syndicate.
