PDEA nabs drug ring head, brother in NCotabato

Anti-narcotics agents apprehended a suspected notorious drug ring leader and his brother during a sting operationin North Cotabato, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency said on Thursday.

PDEA director general Arturo Cacdac Jr. said Louie Banilla, 25, leader of the Banilla Drug Group; and his older brother, Lonel, 27, both of Purok 2, Buluan, Pigcawayan, North Cotabato, were nabbed during a buy bust operation last Jan. 15.

He said the Banilla brothers were arrested by elements of PDEA Regional Office-Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao after they sold a sachet of methamphetamine hydrochloride, or shabu to a PDEA agent who posed as a buyer along their neighborhood in Buluan, Pigcawayan, around 6:10 p.m.

The suspects yielded 13 more plastic sachets of shabu weighing approximately two grams, one improvised glass tooter and an improvised lighter.

Cacdac said the Banilla Drug Group was believed to be responsible for the proliferation of shabu in Pigcawayan, North Cotabato and nearby towns. - Dennis Carcamo