ILOILO City – A high-value drug suspect yielded P500,000 worth of suspected shabu in a buy-bust operation in Barangay San Isidro, La Paz district on Thursday.
Body builder Rhaniel Refugio, 27, a resident of the village, was caught around 5:50 p.m.
According to Police Lieutenant Glenn Soliman, deputy chief of the Regional Drugs Enforcement Unit (RDEU), they initially conducted a test buy for illegal drugs worth P4,000.
A total of 80 grams were recovered from the suspect.
Based on an intelligence report, Refugio was reportedly a sub-drug keeper in the city and province of Iloilo.
“He engaged in illegal drugs only this year. Maybe he had no source of income. He is a drug user, too,” Soliman said.
Refegio, however, denied owning the recovered drugs.
“There was a video while we were frisking him,” Soliman said.
Sources said the suspect reportedly had a contact with a detainee in the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) who was a member of the “Happy Go Lucky” drug group. Their source was allegedly from Manila.
On the other hand, Soliman said the illegal drugs were delivered here through a vessel.
The drugs may have been kept in the cargoes, he added.
Drug peddlers reportedly transacted truck drivers to include the contraband.
According to Soliman, the ports of Caticlan in Aklan and Roxas City in Capiz are among the “passageways” of drug peddlers.
“That’s the link of their drug delivery. Their payments are being sent through Gcash or other establishments,” Soliman said./PN
