BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – The Regional Drug Enforcement Unit (RDEU) of the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) is looking for the consignee of the P7.1-million worth of shabu seized in Barangay Guinhalaran, Silay City, Negros Occidental last week.
The shabu was shipped from Metro Manila, according to Police Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Benitez Jr., RDEU-6 officer-in-charge.
Authorities were able to trace the shipment’s movement. From Metro Manila the shabu was transported to Batangas City and from there it was boarded via a roll-on/roll-off vessel bound for Caticlan, Malay, Aklan.
Upon arriving in Caticlan, the shabu was transported to Iloilo City where part of the shipment was dropped off before the remainder of it was smuggled again via ferry bound for Bacolod City.
Benitez also said the drug traffickers switched vehicles to make it difficult for law enforcers to track their movements.
Benitez said it’s possible that it was not the first time suspects 37-year-old Razel Lyam “Tomboy” Gamazan and 40-year-old Lennie “Nene” Nava – both residents of Tandang Sora in Quezon City – smuggled shabu not only in Negros Occidental but in the whole Western Visayas.
Both were also tagged as “high value drug individuals.”
The RDEU-6 is also validating information that Gamazan had a pending criminal charge involving illegal drugs in Manila.
Benitez believes the shabu seized in other buy-bust operations in Bacolod City and Iloilo City recently were part of the original shipment.
Earlier on Friday, Gamazan and Nava were arrested at the Seaview Subdivision in Silay City’s Barangay Guinhalaran.
Authorities recovered nine plastic bags containing a total of 29 sachets of suspected shabu with a combined weight of 1,050 grams.
Cops also recovered suspected drug money amounting to P5,000.
Both suspects have been charged related to RA 9165 otherwise known as the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
Police are also awaiting court orders to destroy the seized illegal drugs shipment based on the recommendation of the Dangerous Drugs Board following a laboratory examination./PN
