ROXAS City – A tricycle driver suspected of peddling shabu was the only obstacle to Milibili’s declaration as a drug-cleared barangay, if the village chief were to be believed.
Antinarcotics police arrested resident Sammy Ambuan in a buy-bust operation in Sitio Fatima in the barangay. Three plastic packs of suspected shabu were seized from him.
City police director Superintendent Kim Legada, who also led the City Drug Enforcement Unit during the operation, identified Ambuan as a drug surrenderer.
Ambuan already turned himself in to the police for documentation amid the intensified crackdown on drug users and pushers, but has returned to peddling drugs, Legada claimed.
His name resurfaced in a monitoring report of the Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Council (BADAC) and the police intelligence officers on locals suspected to be engaged in the drug trade, Milibili village chief Midelo Ocampo told Panay News.
“Ma-submit na tani kami sang amon listahan sa PDEA (Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency) para ma-declare namon ang Barangay Milibili nga drug-cleared pero indi makahatag recommendation ang pulis kay nagapabilin gihapon si Ambuan sa listahan,” Ocampo said.
“Isa sa rason nga gintinguhaan gid namon sang mga kapulisan nga madakop sia agod mapakita ta man nga wala nagakatulog ang BADAC sang barangay,” Ocampo added.
Ambuan denied owning the plastic packs of suspected shabu seized from him during the operation at around 6 p.m. on Wednesday. A cellphone and a P500 marked money were seized from him, too.
Detained at the Roxas City police station, the suspect faces charges for violation of Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002./PN
