ORMOC CITY– An elderly woman listed as a high-value target on the Philippine National Police (PNP) drug watchlist was arrested in a buy-bust operation on the early hours of March 26 in Barangay San Jose, Ormoc City, authorities reported.
The suspect, identified as “Pacita,” 57, married, and a resident of the same barangay, was apprehended by the PNP Drug Enforcement Group (PDEG) and the Station Drug Enforcement Team (SDET) of Police Station 3 at around 2:07 a.m.
Recovered from her possession were approximately 30 grams of suspected shabu with an estimated Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) value of P204,000. Items seized included several sachets of the white crystalline substance and a P500 bill used as buy-bust money.
Capt. Arwin Perez, chief of the PDEG Leyte Special Operation Unit, said Pacita had a prior arrest for the same offense in 2005. Her husband is currently serving a sentence at the National Penitentiary for a similar drug case.
The suspect is now facing charges under RA 9165, the Comprehensive Law Against Illegal Drugs of 2002, filed at the Ormoc City Prosecutor’s Office, and is temporarily detained at Police Station 2’s locked-up cell in Barangay Cagbuhangin.
Authorities did not release a statement from the suspect, who is considered a high-profile drug personality in the region.
(ROBERT DEJON)
