3 nabbed for P1.5-M Ecstasy tablets

MANILA, Philippines - Three men were arrested for carrying 1,133 Ecstasy tablets, with a street value of at least P1.5 million, in separate operations in Taguig and Makati in the past two days, officials said yesterday.

The three arrests followed the apprehension of Kenneth Santillan at the parking lot of the F1 Hotel in Bonifacio Global City Saturday night, the Southern Police District (SPD) said.

Santillan had been under surveillance by operatives of the Taguig police anti-illegal drug unit prior to his arrest, said SPD director Senior Superintendent Tomas Apolinario Jr.

Police said they recovered Ecstasy tablets, liquid shabu and marijuana from Santillan.

Auriane Brian Combe reportedly carried 33 tablets of Ecstasy when he was arrested in the parking lot of a grocery in Acacia Estate in Barangay Ususan in Taguig City at around 4:15 p.m. Sunday.

Three hours earlier, Patrick Wayne Tandez was arrested at a convenience store at a condominium in Legaspi Village, Makati. One hundred Ecstasy tablets were seized from him.

At least 1,000 tablets of Ecstasy were seized from Raul Antonio Cisneros, who was arrested at a condominium in McKinley Hills in Taguig at around 2 p.m. yesterday.

Cisneros, who holds a United States passport, claimed to be a retired intelligence officer for the US Air Force. He was identified as the supplier of the three previously arrested suspects, said Senior Superintendent Allen Ocden, Taguig police chief.

Ocden said Cisneros reportedly gets Ecstasy tablets from a supplier in Miami, Florida, who sends the party drug to him through courier service.

“We will be coordinating with the Bureau of Customs and our counterparts in the US to uncover this drug network,” Ocden said.