QC cops net 13 in ‘shabu tiangge’

MANILA, Philippines - For as low as P20, drug users were allowed to hold pot sessions in a cramped room made of plywood walls in a shanty area in Quezon City that is also known as a “shabu tiangge” where 13 people were arrested yesterday.

Elements of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) arrested 13 people, including two alleged drug dealers and the supposed tiangge caretaker after an anti-illegal drugs operation in Barangay Sto. Domingo yesterday morning.

QCPD director Senior Superintendent Joel Pagdilao said various drug charges would be filed against alleged drug dealers Remy Colendres, 44, and Corazon Pagcanlunga, 46.

Also facing charges is a certain Edilberto Valencia, the shanty’s supposed caretaker, as well as 10 other drug users caught in the act of taking illegal drugs inside the compound.

Case investigator Police Officer 2 Warlito Cagurungan said there was still smoke inside the room when operatives swooped in during the coordinated buy bust operation in the compound around 8:30 a.m. yesterday.

Senior Inspector Robert Razon, chief of the QCPD anti-illegal drugs task group, said around 100 grams of suspected shabu and marijuana worth P500,000, as well as several illegal drug paraphernalia were confiscated from the suspects.

Razon said the operation was conducted following a month-long surveillance, noting that their investigation started following complaints from citizens over the alleged rampant selling and use of illegal drugs in the area.

Police said people were able to buy illegal drugs, and then pay a fee of P20 to P30 for the use of a room, inside the compound.

The suspects were brought to the QCPD headquarters in Camp Karingal for processing.

Pagdilao, who recently assumed leadership of QCPD, ordered the city’s police force to coordinate closely with the barangay officials and police stations in order to stamp out drug use in the city.

He also commended the operatives for the success of the operation.

Meanwhile, operatives of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) on Monday arrested a 40-year-old pusher and confiscated over P800,000 worth of shabu during an operation in a fast food chain in Pasig City.

PDEA yesterday identified the suspect as Zaldy Sanchez, who was arrested after he sold a sachet of illegal drugs to an undercover operative.

Agents also confiscated some 175 grams of shabu, worth P875,000, from the suspect.

A case for violation of Section 5 (Sale of Dangerous Drugs) of Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, was filed before the Office of the City Prosecutor in Pasig City.

3 kilos seized

Policemen verifying the license plates of a car they stopped last Wednesday night in Manila arrested the female driver, netting three kilos of shabu worth P18 million.

Shiela Adam Somar, 30, of 770 Soler street, Binondo did not resist arrest when cornered by elements of the Task Force Tugis and Highway Patrol Group (HPG) along Agoncillo street in Malate at about 11 p.m.

Senior Superintendent Ronald Lee, chief of Task Force Tugis, said Somar refused to reveal the source of the illegal drugs.

“She is not cooperating in our investigation regarding the source of shabu,” said Lee.

Lee said his men were following up information regarding the presence of rogue policemen involved in hijacking in the area when they spotted the Toyota Vios with license plate RCC 796, with Somar on board.

The policemen spotted Somar’s car and noticed a discrepancy in the license plates.

A subsequent verification with the Land Transportation Office (LTO) E-Mobile Query Tool showed that the license plate was registered to a 1994 Mitsubishi Delica van.

Police Officer 3 Roberto Manggad Jr., PO1 Rolito Tibayan and PO2 Romeo Rogelio, of Task Force Tugis, approached the car and asked Somar to produce the vehicle’s certificate of registration.

When Somar failed to produce any document for the car, Manggad issued her tickets for violation of LTO rules and regulations.

Meanwhile, Senior Police Officer 1 Almar Cabangon and PO2 Ramon Silab noticed that Somar was nervous and uneasy, prompting them to ask her to roll down the front right passenger seat window.

Silab spotted a pack suspiciously protruding from a dark blue traveling bag at the back seat of the car.

Cabangon and Silab immediately apprised Somar of her constitutional rights and announced her arrest.

The suspect kept silent during the entire proceedings, said Lee.

PO1 Gladys Agpad ordered Somar out of the vehicle and subjected her to a thorough search for a deadly weapon, which turned out negative.

The policemen conducted an inventory of the seized shabu in the presence of media and barangay chairman Joji Mendoza before bringing Somar to Task Force Tugis headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City. – With Non Alquitran