A 64-year-old woman is caught with a kilo of suspected shabu during a buy-bust operation in Barangay Poblacion Oriental of Consolacion town in northern Cebu on Friday evening, July 15.| contributed photo via Paul Lauro
CEBU CITY, Philippines — A 63-year-old woman, who uses her being an elderly woman as an effective disguise to sell illegal drugs, was caught with P7.4 million worth of suspected shabu during a buy-bust operation in Barangay Poblacion Oriental in Consolacion town in northern Cebu on Friday evening, July 15, 2022.
Police Major Joey Bicoy, Cebu Police Provincial Police Office (CPPO) Intelligence Unit chief, said that they caught Wennie Delos Santos Chow, also known as “Nanay,” with a kilo of suspected shabu during a buy-bust operation at 8:45 p.m. on Friday, July 15.
Bicoy said that the illegal drugs confiscated from Chow of Barangay Subayon, Toledo City had an estimated market value of P7.4 million.
He also described Chow as a very smart old woman, who was a allegedly a big-time player in the illegal drug trade.
“Marunong kaayo na siya. Mura ra og normal kay tiguwang na siya. Iyang style kay dili magpermente sa usa ka lugar,” Bicoy said.
(She is very smart. She would look normal [and not be suspected as a drug dealer] because she is an elderly. Her style is also to move from place to place [to prevent being suspected by the police as a drug dealer].)
“Dako ni siya nga player. Di ni muhatag og 5 grams, ang iyaha 100 or 200 grams ang iyang disposal ana,” he added.
(She is big-time drug player. She will not sell 5 grams of shabu, but she disposes from 100 to 200 grams of drugs every transaction.)
Bicoy said that Chow could dispose of at least a kilo of suspected shabu per week and operated in the tri-cities – Lapu-Lapu, Mandaue and Cebu – and neighboring cities such as Talisay City.
Bicoy said that Chow was a former drug player in 2012 or 2013, but she had a hiatus then during the stern implementation of the Oplan Tokhang last 2016.
However, he said that she allegedly went back to selling illegal drugs in 2021 and allegedly started to reach out to her previous contacts in the illegal drug trade.
“As per among information, naa na syay boarding house sa Cebu. Ang iyang style kay pag makuha niya ang items, i dispose niya tapos muuli na pod na siya og Toledo, tapos diri na sad siya sa syudad…mupahuway pod na siya. Murag daghan pa na siya og contacts,” Bicoy said.
(As per our information, she has a boarding house in Cebu. Her style is when she would get the items, she will dispose them and then she will go home to Toledo, then, sometimes, she would stay here in the city…and sometimes, she would also take a break in selling [drugs]. She apparently still has a lot of contacts.)
Bicoy said that Chow’s contacts for her illegal drugs were traced inside the city jails.
For now, he said that they continued to locate other possible sources of illegal drugs of Chow.
Bicoy also said that Police Colonel Elmer Lim, acting director of the Cebu Police Provincial Office (CPPO), had ordered all provincial policemen to intensify their efforts to arrest big-time drug dealers in the province.
READ: ‘Yaya’ arrested for illegal drugs in Talisay City