
ZAMBOANGA CITY – A suspected drug peddler was arrested and more than PHP1 million worth of suspected shabu was seized in a buy-bust operation in this city late Tuesday, police said Wednesday.
Capt. Royland Cordero, chief of the Zamboanga City Police Office’s (ZCPO) Drug Enforcement Unit, identified the suspect as Bernardo Urbano Jr., 47, a resident of Barangay Camino Nuevo.
Cordero said Urbano was arrested at about 10:36 p.m. in Aquino Drive, Barangay Canelar, after selling illegal drugs to an undercover operative.
Seized during the operation were about 150 grams of suspected shabu with an estimated street value of PHP1,020,000, along with marked money and a driver’s license.
Authorities said the arrest followed weeks of surveillance confirming Urbano’s involvement in illegal drug activities.
Tuesday’s operation marks the second-largest drug haul in the city this month.
On April 22, police operatives seized PHP6.8 million worth of suspected shabu from a high-value target in Barangay Kasanyangan during a separate anti-drug operation led by the Philippine National Police Drug Enforcement Group.
The suspect is now under police custody and will face charges for violating the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002. (Teofilo Garcia, Jr.)