By BOY RYAN B. ZABAL
KALIBO, Aklan — A native of Silay City, Negros Occidental thought a holiday would be a good day to sell illegal drugs.
Unfortunately for Jelson Lopez, 32, he did not know that the transaction he was having at about 4:40 p.m. on Tuesday in Barangay Tigayon here was an entrapment operation.
Lopez sold two sachets of suspected shabu to a buyer and got P1,500 in return.
He was surprised when Provincial Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operation Task Group (Paidsotg) operatives arrested him. The buyer turned out to be a police “asset.”
A further search of Lopez yielded a big sachet of shabu valued at P10,000.
The suspect resisted arrest and tried to swallow a big sachet of shabu, said Paidsotg investigator SPO1 Rezie Bulanon.
“Nakagamit imaw it shabu bag-o ang buy-bust operation (The suspect was high on drugs even before the buy-bust operation),” Bulanon claimed.
Lopez was currently staying in Barangay Poblacion in Banga town.
Tuesday was Eid’l Fitr, the end of Ramadan. It was declared a national nonworking holiday.
Police said the seized items will be taken to the provincial crime laboratory, while Lopez will undergo a drug test.
The asset tipped off the Paidsotg that Lopez will transact with him near Crossing Banga–New Washington area at about 2:30 p.m.
Lopez later agreed to meet the asset near a tennis court along Osmena Avenue in Barangay Estancia.
Further later, the suspect changed his mind, telling the asset to meet him at a vulcanizing shop in Barangay Tigayon.
“Nagapabulkit ang suspect (The suspect was having a tire vulcanized),” Bulanon said.
Lopez will be charged with possession and sale of illegal drugs, and resistance and disobedience to persons in authority. (Aklan Forum Journal/PN)
