P34 million shabu seized in Marikina

MANILA, Philippines — Operatives of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) confiscated yesterday around five kilos of shabu, with an estimated street value of P34 million, from two suspected drug pushers in Marikina City.

Alyssa Marie Merdegia, 22, and Rocky Macabanding, 31, were apprehended during a sting along E. Santos street in Barangay Concepcion at past 10 a.m.

Director Adrian Alvarino, who heads the PDEA’s National Capital Region field office, said the drugs could have originated from the Chinese-run Golden Triangle ring.

The shabu was placed in a foil pack labeled as Guan Ying Wang tea, which is a common strategy of the international drug group in smuggling prohibited drugs into the country, Alvarino said.

PDEA agents arrested the suspects after they allegedly sold a pack of shabu to a police officer who posed as a buyer.

Merdegia and Macabanding are being held by police on drug trafficking charges.

In Quezon City, Ariel Mendoza, 40, and Jimson Rontos, 18, were nabbed for alleged possession of P136,000 worth of shabu.

Police said the suspects were on a motorcycle in Barangay Masambong when they were accosted for curfew violation.

When frisked, police said the suspects allegedly yielded drugs.

Probers said a background investigation showed that the duo were alleged drug dealers.

In Pasay, police recovered over two kilos of marijuana from three suspects. – Ralph Edwin Villanueva