A 17-year-old Grade 11 student was arrested in a police anti-drug operation in Barangay Tabuc Suba, La Paz, on the evening of September 27, with authorities seizing more than P2 million worth of suspected shabu.
The suspect, identified only as alias Emok, was caught in a buy-bust operation near his residence in Ledesco Village after selling a sachet of suspected shabu to an undercover policeman for P13,000.
The Regional Police Drug Enforcement Unit (RPDEU)-6, backed by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Group Special Operations Unit (PDEGSOU), the Regional Intelligence Division (RID) 6, and Iloilo City Police Station (ICPS) 2, led the operation.
Recovered from the suspect were five knot-tied plastic bags and six sachets of suspected shabu weighing about 210 grams, with an estimated street value of P1.43 million.
Police later retrieved another knot-tied bag containing roughly 100 grams of suspected shabu, valued at PHP 680,000, which the suspect surrendered. They also seized drug paraphernalia, including a digital weighing scale, empty sachets, and a spoon.
According to investigators, the teen admitted handing it over to prevent his family from being implicated, as they were the ones who retrieved the stash from its hiding place.
Major Marvin Villanueva, deputy chief of RPDEU-6, said the student functioned both as a bodegero and drug pusher for an unidentified distributor.
Authorities suspect the shabu supply originated from Metro Manila.*
Reymund Titong is a Filipino journalist steadily building his voice in the field of news reporting, driven by a commitment to tell meaningful and relevant stories.
He serves as a correspondent for Rappler, maintains a personal blog on Medium, and is the communications officer of Hope Builders Organization Negros Island.