‘Operation Crushed Ice’ snares six drug suspects

Police have arrested six drug suspects, including three who were disallowed by the court to post bail, in a series of buy-bust operations in three separate areas in Quezon City.

Chief Inspector Rudy Jaraza, head of the District Police Intelligence Unit of the Central Police District, which led the buy-bust operations, identified the suspects as Ricardo Fruto, 44, of Barangay Malaya, Diliman; Oscar de Castro, 56, of Barangay Gulod, Novaliches; Constante Reyes, 49, of Barangay Malaya; Agustin Francisco, 45, and Carolina Pong, 29, both of Barangay Damatan, San Francisco del Monte; and Liza Young, alias Ricky Sandy, 22, of Hardin ng Rosas.

Based on a report submitted to CPD officer-in-charge and deputy director for administration Oscar Marinas, the apprehensions were a result of "Operation Crushed Ice," a campaign against illegal drugs.

According to Jaraza, the DPIU team’s first target was Fruto, who was tagged by informants as a drug pusher operating in Barangay Malaya.

The team conducted a casing and surveillance operation against the suspect and, with the help of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), planned a buy-bust upon verification of his illegal activities.

On the afternoon of May 24, a poseur-buyer, together with the informant, managed to establish contact with Fruto. The suspect agreed to sell shabu for P100.

After receiving the marked money for a plastic sachet containing the illegal substance, lawmen on standby pounced on the suspect and arrested him.

Last May 30, another operation was conducted by police at the corner of Mapagsangguni and Matahimik streets in Barangay Malaya. The arrest stemmed from information provided by Fruto, who revealed during interrogation that two others were peddling shabu in the area.

Operatives established contact with suspects De Castro and Reyes, who both agreed to sell P200 worth of shabu. The two were arrested after the deal.

Two days later, police conducted an operation against a certain Spencer Paredes along Felipe street in Barangay Damayan in San Francisco del Monte. However, Paredes, who agreed to sell P200 worth of shabu to a poseur-buyer, was able to escape after sensing it was a buy-bust.

Lawmen managed to apprehend his companions, Francisco and Pong, who had in their possession .07 grams of shabu and paraphernalia with traces of the illegal substance.

On the afternoon of June 3, police arrested Young in front of a fastfood restaurant along Commonwealth Avenue near University Lane in Barangay San Vicente. Young yielded a sachet containing .05 grams of shabu worth P200.

Fruto, De Castro, and Young were not allowed to post bail by the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office.