GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/08 December) — Anti-drug operatives arrested early Tuesday three suspected drug pushers, including a city government employee, in a buy-bust operation at a housing village here.
Lyndon Aspacio, Philppine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Region 12 director, said they nabbed the suspects at around 12:10 a.m. along French Street of Queenies Love Village in Barangay City Heights.
He identified the suspects as Jamor Acmad, 35, of Purok 5, Barangay Baluntay, Alabel town in Sarangani Province; Joey Juaniza, 42, of Relocation Nursery Road in Barangay Lagao here; and, Sid Colipog, 43, of Barangay Batomelong here.
He said Colipog is a job order worker of the city government and assigned as a grass cutter under the Waste Management Office of the City Environment and Natural Resources Office.
“We considered him (Colipog) as a high-value target because of his (employment) status and involvement in illegal drug activities,” Aspacio said.
Prior to their arrest, he said one of the suspects, Jamor Acmad, sold a sachet of metamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu worth P1,000 to a PDEA agent who posed as a buyer.
He said their operatives later recovered from Acmad’s possession the P1,000 marked money, an estimated one gram of shabu worth P7,500, two empty plastic sachets with suspected shabu residues, a digital weighing scale, an improvised lighter and an improvised toother.
Aspacio said Acmad will be charged for violation of Section 5 or sale of dangerous drugs, Section 11 or possession of dangerous drugs, Section 12 or possession of drug paraphernalia of Article II of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
Colipog and Juaniza will face conspiracy charges or violation of Section 26, Article II of RA 9165.
Colipog is the third city government worker to be arrested since August for alleged involvement in the illegal drug trade.
Elements from the PDEA-12 and the city police nabbed an employee of the land tax division of the City Treasurer’s Office in a buy-bust operation in August.
In September, a member of the civil security unit assigned at the City Engineer’s Office was arrested in an operation launched by the Police Regional Office 12’s regional special investigation and detection team.
City Mayor Ronnel Rivera earlier ordered the conduct of random drug tests among city government employees in a move to cleanse its ranks of alleged drug pushers and users. (MindaNews)
