Alleged drug pusher, courier caught

MANILA, Philippines - An alleged drug pusher operating in Valenzuela City and his courier were arrested by the Northern Police District (NPD) for illegal drug possession in a chance operation in Caloocan City over the weekend.

Arnold Salguero, 43; and his alleged courier, Ramon Dacanay, 37, were nabbed about 4 p.m. in Ignacio Compound, Sta. Quiteria.

Seized from Salguero were 9.7 grams of shabu – which has a street value of P50,000 – and a .38 caliber revolver with six bullets while Dacanay yielded .87 grams of shabu, according to Chief Inspector Romeo Ricalde Jr., head of NPD’s District Special Operation Unit (DSOU).

Ricalde described the arrests as “hitting two birds with one stone.”

The DSOU chief said his team was only supposed to arrest Dacanay, who has a pending arrest warrant for stealing a motorcycle in Valenzuela in 2012. Dacanay had been under surveillance for about five days already.

“It just happened that Salguero was there so he was also arrested. When he was frisked, they found drugs on him,” Ricalde told The STAR.

Ricalde said both suspects were not from Sta. Quiteria but they frequent the place to distribute the drugs.

Salguero is considered a “major” drug pusher in Valenzuela, he added. This is the fourth time that Salguero was arrested by Ricalde’s team. The three other arrests happened from 2011 to 2012.

The two were detained in the DSOU’s detention cell in Langaray, Caloocan after they were charged for possession of illegal drugs on Sunday night.