Dishwasher caught with 1 kilo of shabu

Joxel Chan said that he would get paid for watching over packs of shabu that are left under his care. / Benjie Talisic

CEBU CITY, Philippines- He did not earn much a dishwasher for a Cebu City restaurant.

Joxel Chan, 28, would sell illegal drugs after he leaves his workplace to earn additional income.

But his desire for a better life cost him his freedom.

Chan was arrested for the possession of one kilo of shabu worth P6.8 million this afternoon, February 12, in his residence in Sitio San Vicente, Barangay Duljo, Cebu City.

Chief Insp. Kenneth Paul Albotra, chief of the San Nicolas Station, said that they placed the suspect under surveillance for at least a month before they planned the buy bust operation against him.

At past 2 p.m. on Tuesday, elements from the San Nicolas Police Station, City Intelligence Branch (CIB) and the Mambaling Police Station operated on him.

The anti-illegal drug operation happened two hours after the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency raided a suspected drug den in Barangay Lorega in Cebu City.

Read more: PDEA-7 agents raid Lorega ‘drug den,’ nab 9 persons, seize P80K shabu

In the Barangay Duljo operation, police sent a poseur buyer to transact with Chan.

During his arrest, police confiscated P8,000 worth of shabu from his possession. They also found more packs of shabu which totalled to about a kilo inside his residence.

Albotra said that the drugs were already repacked and placed on a wooden chair which made them conclude that these were being prepared for pick up by buyers who would drop by Chan’s place.

In an interview with Cebu Daily News Digital, Chan said that he started to has transact with his supplier just last month.

Chan said that a friend left the drugs with him for a fee of P2, 500 and with instructions that these were to be picked up by a buyer. /dcb