DUMAGUETE CITY, June 22 (PNA) -– Law enforcement authorities seized more than half a million pesos worth of suspected methamphetamine hydrochloride or “shabu” during a raid in Calindagan, Dumaguete City, Monday that led to the arrest of a suspected Level 3 drug pusher.
Operatives of the Provincial Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Group (PAIDSOTG) of the Negros Oriental Philippine National Police Office (NOPPO), led by Chief Insp. Benedick Poblete, and the National Bureau of Investigation led by Atty. Dominador Cimafranca, and in coordination with the local Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, swooped down Monday morning on the house of the suspect in a raid carried out with a court search warrant.
Arrested following the search at his residence was on Winefredo Armentano, married, of legal age and a resident of Purok Orchids at Sitio Canday-ong, Barangay Calindagan in this capital city, Poblete said.
According to Poblete, operatives recovered during the search Armentano’s residence five “bultos” (street slang for large volume of narcotic substance) and five other smaller plastic sachets of “shabu powder” with an aggregate weight of 45 grams more or less.
The seized “shabu” was pegged at an estimated Dangerous Drugs Board value of P53,000.
As a Level 3 drug personality, Armentano can dispose at least P100,000 worth of shabu, not in Dumaguete but in Mabinay, Negros Oriental, where he is reported to be the distributor to cover his identity in this capital city.
The search warrant was applied by PAID-SOTG following a tip from a reliable informant. Armentano has become a “bodegero” of shabu to be delivered to nearby municipalities, police said.
Negros Oriental Executive Judge Gerardo Paguio issued the search warrant against Armentano, dated June 17, 2015.
Armentano, however, vehemently denied ownership of the confiscated “shabu” but admitted the same were recovered inside his residence while the search was witnessed by Kagawad Candido Kinikito and the media.
It will be recalled that few months ago, his younger brother was also searched in the same house and is presently in jail.
Newly-installed Negros Oriental Provincial Police Office officer-in-charge Sr. Supt. Dionardo Bernardo Carlos was on hand to supervise the inventory of the confiscated illegal drugs.
Carlos said this is the problem that Gov. Roel Degamo, the community and the stakeholders wanted to address, as he called on all the agencies concerned to work closely with the police to address the situation.
Like when Carlos was the chief of police in Dumaguete, he said he will have to study on how to restrict the movements of suspected illegal drugs peddler, with the conduct of checkpoints three times a day.
Carlos said his approach would include controlling their movements, identifying them, making a study on each case to include the shooting incidents in Dumaguete, to determine their commonality, to be able to determine whose perpetuating the crimes and the culprits.
It is important to do an analysis of the information at hand because it is easy to say a crime is drug-related, referring to the shooting incidents in Dumaguete, Carlos pointed out. (PNA)