P7M worth of cocaine seized in Miagao
Narcotics agents seized about a kilo of high-grade cocaine worth P7 million, by far the biggest single drug haul in Western Visayas, following a buy-bust operation in Miag-ao town yesterday morning.
Miag-ao is a coastal town south of Iloilo known for its centuries-old UNESCO world heritage church and home to the flagship campus of the University of the Philippines-Visayas.
Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency 6 Regional Director Paul Ledesma said the amount of cocaine they recovered from the house of Carlito Buen could fetch about P7 million in the streets, and might be a fraction of the cocaine discovered off Samar, because of the similarities in the way they were packed.
However, Ledesma refrained from confirming the source of yesterday’s drug haul.
This is our biggest catch so far, he said.
Buen was taken in for interrogation, after which he will be indicted for peddling prohibited drugs, a non-bailable offense, Ledesma said.
In a radio interview, Buen’s wife disclaimed knowledge on her husband’s activities.
“By now, we would have been rich already. But no, we’re financially hard up, I have a hard time paying for my childrens’ studies,” the wife, who was not named, said.
Ledesma said Buen is not a high-profile drug personality, although he once was in the PDEA’s watchlist for selling methamphetamine hydrochloride, more known as shabu.
For unknown reason, Buen stopped selling shabu, only to get back. This time, it was with the more expensive cocaine.
“Buen told us he got the drugs from Metro Manila, but I doubt it because the cocaine we seized from him was packed in black plastic, much like the ones seized from Samar,” Ledesma said.
Ledesma said they have been shadowing Buen for almost a month, after peddlers selling cocaine in Iloilo City were tailed to Buen’s compound in Brgy. Maninila.
Authorities staged a buy-bust at about 8:30 a.m. at his house by the national highway. A poseur buyer was able to buy a sachet worth P1,000 from Buen, who said he had more of those if the undercover agent wanted.
The poseur buyer showed boodle money of about P100,000 to Buen, who showed where the rest of the cocaine was hidden. It was then that the arrest was made.
Joint personnel of PDEA 6 and the Philippine National Police recovered the cocaine from a false bottom under Buen’s bed.*
