2 nabbed for selling shabu in tribal lands

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — After members of the Blaan indigenous group complained about the sale of narcotics within their ancestral lands, two suspected drug pushers were arrested in a sting over the weekend, according to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.

PDEA-Soccsksargen region chief Benjamin Recites III said narcotics agents seized 18 grams of shabu valued at P122,400 from two men he identified only as siblings Glen and Jennymar during the sting in Barangay Kawas in Alabel, Sarangani.

Recites told reporters yesterday that the two were reported to be peddling drugs near school campuses in the province’s ancestral lands.

Leaders of the Blaan tribe and Muslim villagers in Alabel had told reporters that they are grateful to the PDEA and the Philippine National Police, under regional director Brig. Gen. Romeo Macapaz, for acting promptly on their reports about drug trafficking.