The four drug suspects try to hide their faces following their arrest by Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Central Visayas (PDEA-7) agents inside a drug den in Barangay Candulawan, Talisay City at dawn of Sunday, March 10, 2019. |CDND Photo/Benjie Talisic
TALISAY CITY, Cebu – Agents from the Phillipine Drug Enforcement Agency in Central Visayas (PDEA-7) raided a drug den in Barangay Candulawan, Talisay City and arrested four persons in an operation at dawn today, March 10.
Arrested were Roland Bacacho, who owned the hut used as a drug den; and alleged drug users Rodulfo Caputrano Jr., Anthony Del Mar and Martin Catubig.
Caputrano was caught about to sniff shabu while the two others had just bought drugs from Bacacho, according to the raiding team’s leader who asked to be identified only as Agent David.
Seized from Bacacho were two medium-size packets of shabu and small packets of the same drug from the other suspects, all of which had a combined value of P81,600.
The operation took an unexpected twist when the mother of Catubig arrived in the area and had a seizure and collapsed when she learned that her son was arrested.
The raiding team decided to call an ambulance and emergency response personnel were about to load her a stretcher to be brought to the hospital when her husband arrived and decided to bring her home instead.
Agent David said they were alerted about the presence of the drug den in the area by village officials who, in turn, learned it from Bacacho’s neighbors.
Candulawan Barangay Councilman Nicasio Abendan, who chairs the barangay’s peace and order council, revealed that Bacacho is in the watchlist of the Barangay Anti Druh Abuse Council (Badac) as he identified both as a user and a peddler.
Abendan said Bacacho had previously been “visited” by village officials and was asked to stop his illegal drugs activities but he did not heed their warning.
Bacacho had admitted that the drug users would pay him from P20 to P30 each time they would use his hut to engage in drug use, authorities said. /elb