2 drug pushers arrested in Cainta

Two bigtime drug pushers in Cainta were arrested by the police during an entrapment operation yesterday near the vicinity of Robinson’s department store along Ortigas Avenue Extension in Barangay San Isidro, Cainta.

Some 200 grams of shabu were seized from the suspects, whom the Cainta police have identified as brothers Ariel Castro and Joshua de la Paz. Castro, a resident of Barangay San Andres near the Mangahan Floodway, has long been listed in the anti-drug watchlist of the Rizal Provincial Office. About 145 grams of shabu were seized from him.

"We intercepted them after we received confirmation that they were on their way to the place where our undercover cops set a delivery of the illegal drugs," Superintendent Manuel Soriano said.

In a report to Rizal Provincial Police Office director Senior Superintendent Leocadio Santiago, Soriano said the amount of drugs seized from Castro will prevent him from posting bail for possession of illegal drugs.

Under the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, possession of more than 50 grams of shabu is a non-bailable offense and punishable by death.

Castro has been tagged by the police as one of the major suppliers of shabu in Cainta and nearby municipalities.

Meanwhile, some 25 grams of shabu was seized from De la Paz. Two digital weighing scales and paraphernalia used in the illegal drug rade were also confiscated from the two suspects, who surrendered to the police a caliber .45 automatic pistol and the car they were using in their operations, Soriano said. — Christina Mendez, Non Alquitran