Couple arrested for pushing drugs

They remain united even in illegal activities.

Police operatives arrested last night a husband and wife team of suspected drug dealers after they were found in possession of several grams of shabu in Tondo, Manila.

The arrest of Vohaymen Tangcor, 33, and his wife Ellah, both of 1248 St. Mathew street, Tondo was an offshoot of a heightened police visibility in crime-prone areas in the city, according to Moriones police station chief Superintendent Jose Mario Espino.

Espino said his anti-crime watch personnel were doing their night patrol when they chanced upon a half-naked Vohaymen at the corner of Kagitingan and St. Mathew streets. The police then accosted the man for violation of the city ordinance against persons without upper shirts.

When frisked for hidden weapon, Vohaymen yielded some five plastic sachets of crystalline granules in his right front pocket. Police also noticed the suspicious body language of a woman nearby, which turned out to be Vohaymen’s wife Ellah. When confronted, Ellah yielded a red wallet which contained another six heat-sealed plastic sachets of crystalline granules. Also found were a miniature weighing scale and disposable lighters.

Laboratory tests conducted on the contents of the 11 plastic sachets confirmed these were shabu with a weight of six grams and with an estimated street market value of P25,000, according to Espino.

During interrogation, the couple named a certain “Basco” from Quiapo as their source of shabu. The couple said they were sandal vendors who turned to shabu peddling when they incurred a huge debt of P30,000 when their son was inflicted with dengue.

They also admitted that they are the source of shabu in the Wagas area of Tondo. Charges of possession of illegal drugs were filed against the couple who were separated for the first time in their married life following their detention in separate cells at the police station.