A total of 17 Filipinos were arrested in four separate drug operations in Manila on Tuesday and two million pesos worth of illegal drugs were seized.
Pandancan police arrested six of the suspects along Maligaya Street in Kahilum II. The six were identified as Laurence Pacultad, Orlando Bautista, Cristia Balao, Melissa Baga, Raquel Dela Rosa and Erickson Aquino, GMA News reported.
They told police they bought the drugs from Love Torres and Aron John Dela Cruz. The two were arrested in Pandacan and 85 grams off drugs were seized. The two admitted they sold drugs for financial reasons.
Two more suspects, a 17-year-old girl and her father, were arrested in Paco Market for supplying drugs to Torres and Dela Cruz. Police seized 100 grams of drugs from them. In another police operation, Anwar Umpara and six others were arrested in Quiapo and 100 grams of drugs were seized.
According to Police Captain Pidencio Saballo, chief of the Drug Enforcement Unit of Pandacan Police Station, it was believed the suspects were connected and working together in the illegal drug trade.
Police recovered a total of 22 plastic sachets containing suspected methamphetamine weighing 285 grams from the four operations. The suspects will be charged for violating the Comprehensive Dangerous Drug Act.