7 nabbed in Binondo drug sting

MANILA, Philippines – At least seven persons, four of them women, were arrested in a drug bust at an upscale commercial building in Binondo, Manila yesterday afternoon.

An undercover police officer was escorted by Bernadette Tagle, 43, to the Epitome Flower Shop at the Pacific Center building on Quintin Paredes street, where the police officer was supposed to buy shabu, said Senior Superintendent Ronald Lee, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) National Capital Region chief.

Lee and his men raided the shop and arrested Tagle; Karen Tan, 37, who claimed to be the shop owner; Aina Marquez, 28; Arman Okba, 41, and three others.

Lee said there were no flowers in the shop but there were at least three kilos of shabu with a street value of P15 million.

Lee said they stumbled upon Tan “just a week ago and started working on the deal through phone calls and text messages.”

A CIDG operative told The STAR that Tan was the wife of a certain Demsem Tan, who is also on their watchlist.

Lee said papers show that the eighth-floor unit was rented a few days ago, purportedly for a flower shop. “They even have permits,” he said. 

 Police protector?

Tan initially denied that they were using her unit as a front for drug deals but later admitted it.  

Her husband repeatedly called her mobile phone while she was being questioned, but CIDG operatives told her not to answer it.

Tan also admitted knowing a member of the District Anti-Illegal Drug (DAID) unit of the  Manila Police District (MPD) as a “friend and adviser, who goes by the initials BDG.”

MPD director Chief Superintendent Rolando Nana confirmed that they have a policeman assigned at DAID with the initials BDG. 

“He was recommended and had been working just a few months at DAID. We will look into this allegation and have the whole unit under scrutiny,” Nana told The STAR.