BY RUBY P. SILUBRICO
ILOILO City – This city and the towns of Pototan and Oton could be the dropping areas of shabu entering Iloilo from Metro Manila, according to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Region 6.
The 765 grams of shabu worth P4.5 million seized on Saturday was intended for this city and the two towns, according to Regional Director Paul Ledesma.
He got this information from suspect Jesusito Pedrajas of San Pedro, Laguna from whom the shabu was recovered in a buy-bust operation in Barangay Buray, Oton.
However, Ledesma declined to name the personalities who were supposed to receive the shabu.
He previously identified three drug lords operating in Iloilo City – Dragon, Buang and Bondying.
Senior Superintendent Cornelio Salinas, Iloilo police director, recently identified Pototan as among the drug hot spots in the province.
A drug group operated in the town, he said.
The other drug spots in the province were the municipalities of Sara and Dumangas.
Salinas also confirmed the existence of Dragon and Buang. These two also operated in several towns in Iloilo province, he said.
PDEA operatives who arrested Pedrajas, 41, found the shabu hidden in a canister of Pringles, a stackable snack chips.
This was the biggest shabu seizure in Panay Island so far this year, according to Oton police chief, Senior Inspector Jigger Gimeno.
Last Nov. 28, 2013 also in Oton, P2-million worth of shabu was seized from two suspected drug dealers in Barangay Botong.
PDEA operatives cornered 37-year-old Orestes Estrebor and 18-year-old Christian Morin at Nes & Tats resort and restaurant.
Both suspects, residents of Barangay Poblacion, Oton, yielded 235.6 grams of shabu (nearly one fourth of a kilo)./PN
