ILOILO City – Two illegal drug pushing suspects were caught in Dingle, Iloilo.
One of them was a suspected right hand of the slain drug lord Richard “Buang” Prevendido of Barangay Bakhaw, Mandurriao district.
Celdon Bel Loja and friend Romulo Deang were hauled to the detention facility of the Dingle police station.
Police from Dingle and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Region 6 operatives arrested them in a buy-bust operation in Barangay Namatay, Dingle where the suspects also lived.
Loja and Deang sold half a gram of shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride) to an undercover officer for P3,000 at 2 p.m. on July 19.
Arresting officers seized from Deang a .45 pistol. The latter had no license to possess the weapon, the officers said.
Senior Inspector Samuel Vipinosa, Dingle police chief, identified Loja as a suspected member of the Prevendido drug group and right hand of “Buang.”
Loja was a “top-priority target” of the Dingle police station and the PDEA Region 6 in the campaign against drug trafficking as well, said Vipinosa.
A suspected drug peddler covering the 4th District of Iloilo, Loja was arrested in Passi City earlier this year for drug possession but he was able to post bail, said the police.
Intelligence information said Loja covered northern Iloilo (5th District) when Prevendido was still alive and continued to operate when his boss was killed, Vipinosa said.
However, the Dingle police chief said they have yet to know where Loja gets his drug supply.
Loja and Deang face charges for violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 while the latter faces an additional charge for violation of the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act.
Prevendido was shot and killed by officers out to serve him and son Jason a warrant of arrest on Sept. 1 last year in Barangay Balabago, Jaro district. The Prevendidos fought back, police said./PN
