GENERAL SANTOS CITY — Anti-drug operatives arrested three notorious pushers in separate buy-bust operations on Thursday afternoon in nearby Koronadal City.
Kath Abad, public information officer of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA)-Region 12, identified the suspects as Ariel Chiva, 44, Aldrin Camposano, 30, and, Romeo Morte, 34, all residents of Koronadal City.
She said their operatives, who were under the direct supervision of PDEA-12 acting director Valente Cariño, initially staged a buy-bust targeting Chiva at around 1 p.m. near the corner of Odi and Morrow Streets in Barangay Zone 2.
The suspect, who was included in the city’s drug watchlist, was nabbed after selling a sachet of suspected metamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu to a PDEA-12 agent who posed as a buyer, she said.
Abad said PDEA-12 agents also arrested Camposano, Chiva’s alleged cohort, who yielded two sachets of suspected shabu weighing about 0.5 gram, with an estimated market value of P2,500.
At around 1:30 p.m., she said another buy-bust was launched against Morte at a portion of Barangay Zone 1.
“Morte was the supplier of shabu peddled by Chiva and Camposano,” she said in a statement.
Seized from the suspect’s possession was a sachet of suspected shabu weighing about two grams valued at around P10,000, she said.
The three suspects, who are currently detained at the PDEA-12 headquarters, would be charged with violation of Sections 5 and 11 or sale and possession of dangerous drugs, under Article II of Republic Act 9165 or the the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002. (PNA)
