3 Nigerians, Filipino fall in Las Piñas drug bust

MANILA, Philippines - Members of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) on Tuesday arrested three Nigerians and a Filipino woman during a sting operation in Las Piñas City.

QCPD Director Police Chief Superintendent Edgardo Gonzales identified the suspects as Celestine Chukwudozie,30, businessman, native of Anumbra, Nigeria; Frezel Chukwudozie,34, Filipino, businesswoman, native of Lanao Del Norte; Johnson Ejiuwa, 27, native of Enugo, Nigeria; and Henry Ukpabia, 32, student, native of Imo, Nigeria.

Police Chief Inspector Enrico Figueroa, chief of the District Anti-illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Group, said the operation was conducted around 5:30 a.m. last September 29, in front of a restaurant along Zapote Road, Barangay Talon Dos, Las Piñas City.

He said the QCPD received information about the illegal drug trade of the suspects from a confidential informant, placing the four under surveillance for the past several weeks.

A day before the operation, Figueroa said an undercover operative met the suspects near a department store in Cubao, Quezon City to show the ‘drug money.’  

After seeing the supposed 'drug money,' the suspects then arranged the drug deal in Las Piñas City as they did not bring with them the illegal drugs.

During the operation, lawmen seized from the suspects a plastic bag containing undetermined quantity of crystalline substance suspected to be shabu worth P200,000; a brick of dried marijuana leaves worth P15,000 inside an orange plastic bag; three plastic bags containing suspected dried marijuana leaves,the buy bust money, and a car. 

The suspects are now detained at Camp Karingal pending the filing of illegal drug raps against them. 

Police have yet to determine whether the suspects were connected with international drug syndicates.