Kidapawan drug peddler nabbed

NORTH COTABATO, Philippines — Anti-narcotics agents finally entrapped Tuesday a drug peddler touted as the most elusive in Kidapawan City having eluded 13 attempts to clamp him down.

The 30-year-old Erwin Dillera, a businessman, was arrested after selling P6,800 worth of shabu to plainclothes personnel of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-12 during a sting Tuesday morning in Barangay Kalasuyan, Kidapawan City.

Naravy Duquiatan, director of PDEA-12, said Wednesday it was relatives of Dillera and barangay leaders who gave him away.

Dillera is also known for his peddling of shabu to contacts in towns around Kidapawan City, the capital of North Cotabato.

Police intelligence sources and local officials, among them key members of different municipal peace and order councils, have confirmed that there were at least 13 unsuccessful attempts to entrap Dillera in different spots in Kidapawan City and in nearby towns since 2018.

Members of PDEA-12 assigned in Kidapawan City started tracking Dillera down in November last year and gained headway in their bid to put him behind bars when relatives volunteered to help monitor his movements.

He is now detained, to be prosecuted by PDEA-12 for violation of the Republic Act 9165, or the Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.