Five kilos of suspected shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride) worth P34 million were seized by joint operatives during a buy-bust operation Monday afternoon, April 8, in Malabang, Lanao del Sur in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
Gil Cesario Castro, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) – BARMM, said the huge volume of illegal drugs was seized in Barangay Matalin from a high-value drug suspect.
In December 2019, authorities also apprehended five kilos of shabu worth P34 million in Bongao, Tawi-Tawi, the PDEA said on its website. Three high-value drug suspects were arrested by the multi-agency operating team.
In the latest operation, authorities arrested Zacaria Kaju Nanjang, a resident of Bagua 2, Cotabato City, Castro said.
“This is an Intelligence-based operation. After this, we will go after the supply chain of illegal drugs. We have to dig deeper the persons of interests behind this narco(tics) trade,” he said.
Castro said that PDEA-BARMM agents have been monitoring the suspect’s movement for several weeks amid information that he is in possession of a huge volume of shabu.
The suspect bit the offer of a PDEA agent poseur-buyer to sell him a kilo of shabu during the entrapment operation.
After he was arrested and his car searched, more shabu, which were packed in Chinese tea bags, was found hidden in the suspect’s vehicle, Castro said.
Based on the initial information of PDEA-BARMM, the suspected shabu seized from the suspect bore a similar trademark from previous buy-bust operations in the area, where Chinese tea bags were used as packaging materials, an indication it could have been produced outside the country.
“We have a lead. We continue to profile it and conduct backtracking investigation. Soon we will know who are the players behind it,” Castro said.
Castro said the operation would not be successful without the participation of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, National Bureau of Investigation, National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, Philippine National Police – Highway Patrol Group, and the Police Regional Office – BARMM.
Brig. Gen. Prexy Tanggawohn, newly installed BARMM police director, also commended the various government agencies involved in the big drug bust.
He said that authorities are still validating claims that the seized illegal drugs would be used to fund candidates in the May 2025 elections. (Ferdinandh B. Cabrera / MindaNews)
