Operatives of Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) Station 3 seized on Friday 1.205 kg. of suspected shabu with a street value of PHP18.075 million in a buy-bust at Purok Gonzaga, Barangay Taculing.
Suspect Kenneth Jacosalem, 27, a high-value target, evaded arrest during the operation around 3:30 a.m. but was apprehended more than two hours later.
In a radio interview, Maj. Ruel Culanag, chief of Police Station 3, said Jacosalem was arrested in a pursuit operation after he returned to the village, apparently not knowing that the operatives were still in the area.
During the operation, the drug enforcement team recovered 12 large transparent plastic wrappers containing shabu, and three small sachets of the same substance.
Jacosalem sold PHP1,000 worth of shabu to an undercover policeman.
In an interview with reporters, the suspect denied possessing the seized drugs, saying someone, whom he did not identify, just left it with him.
Currently, the Bacolod police pegged the street value or “retailer price” of shabu here at PHP15,000 per gram.
Maj. Sherlock Gabana, chief of Police Station 2, who also leads anti-drug operations, said earlier a drug pusher can actually earn more than PHP75,000 from selling a five-gram sachet of shabu.
The latest haul of Police Station 3 is the largest since the PHP15 million worth of shabu seized by the police from a 17-year-old male suspect end of August last year.
In 2019, the BCPO seized a total of PHP73-million worth of illegal drugs, including 6.083 kg. of shabu, with a street value of PHP72.996 million, which is the highest recovered volume of illegal drugs among the police units in Western Visayas.
Col. Henry Biñas, city police director, said earlier Bacolod, being a highly-urbanized city, is considered a transshipment area and market for illegal drugs. (Nanette Guadalquiver ndb via pna)