ORMOC CITY — A contractor’s wife who was previously arrested for illegal drugs and later released on bail has been re-arrested after police caught her in another buy-bust operation in this city late Friday night(Dec.19), underscoring authorities’ intensified campaign against repeat drug offenders.
Operatives of the Police Regional Office-8 Regional Drug Enforcement Unit arrested the suspect, identified as alias “Lea,” 48, unemployed and a resident of Barangay Salvacion, at about 11:56 p.m. on December 19 during an operation conducted in the same barangay.
Police said the suspect had earlier been arrested in 2024 together with her husband, a contractor, in a buy-bust operation. She was temporarily freed after posting bail while her drug case remains pending.
Seized from her possession was one large sachet containing a white crystalline substance suspected to be shabu, which was sold to an undercover operative for P65,000.
A subsequent body search, conducted in the presence of law-mandated witnesses, yielded a black shoulder bag containing 23 more large sachets of the same suspected illegal drug.
Also recovered were P65,000 in buy-bust money as well as a portable digital weighing scale, a silver-colored Infinix Android cellular phone, two pairs of scissors, a brown Coach card holder, three identification cards (two National IDs and one driver’s license), two ATM cards, P900 in cash, and other personal belongings.
Police estimated the total weight of the confiscated suspected shabu at approximately 1,082 grams, with a Dangerous Drugs Board value of P7,357,600.
The suspect was informed of the nature of her arrest and was apprised of her constitutional rights in a language she understood.
Charges for violations of Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, have been filed before the City Prosecutor’s Office. The suspect is currently detained at the custodial facility of Police Station 4 in Barangay Linao, Ormoc City.
(ROBERT DEJON, ELVIE ROMAN ROA)
