An Australian national and two women were among nine persons arrested in a raid in barangay Poblacion, Lapu-Lapu City yesterday.
Paul Cooper, 51, who resides in barangay Bangkal, Lapu-Lapu City, was caught with eight other persons allegedly sniffing shabu in a drug den.
Cooper denied he was with the group. He said he just happened to pass by the area to collect payment for a DVD he sold to someone from there.
Senior Insp. Wilbert Parilla, chief of Hoops Dome Police Station, however, said the Australian had been arrested a couple of times before in other drug raids.
Police confiscated suspected shabu worth P34,000, P500 cash, drug paraphernalia and two shotguns.
The other arrested persons included Robelyn Labe, 30, of barangay Poblacion; Jeralyn Andrade, 30, of barangay Poblacion; and Jaime Babatuan, 41, of barangay Cogon, Cordova.