P34-M worth shabu seized in Lanao del Sur

COTABATO CITY — Agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency seized P34 million worth of shabu from a dealer based in this city who was entrapped in Malabang town in Lanao del Sur on Monday.

Gil Cesario Castro, director of PDEA-BARMM, told reporters on Monday night that the suspect, Zacaria Jaji Nandang, is now in their custody. The suspect will be prosecuted for violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

Nandang, a Maguindanaon, was entrapped in Barangay Matalin, a predominantly Maranaw area in Malabang town in the second district of Lanao del Sur, some two hours away via overland travel from Cotabato City.

“We are thankful to officials of police units and the tipsters who helped us plan this successful entrapment operation,” Castro said.

Nandang yielded peacefully when he sensed that he had sold five kilos of shabu, costing P34 million, to non-uniformed PDEA-BARMM agents and combined plainclothes personnel of the Malabang Municipal Police Station, the Lanao del Sur Provincial Police Office and the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region.

The suspect was long under surveillance by agents of PDEA-BARMM and intelligence units of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division and PRO-BAR for his large-scale shabu trafficking activities in Cotabato City and in nearby towns in the neighboring Maguindanao del Norte, Maguindanao del Sur and in Cotabato provinces.

Police Brig. Gen. Prexy Tanggawohn, director of PRO-BAR, said they shall help the PDEA-BARMM initiate covert operations to determine the identities of Nandang’s accomplices here and in nearby provinces.