Two persons in the top 10 watchlist of illegal drug personalities in the province of Catanduanes fell into the hands of the police in separate buy-bust operations in Virac and Gigmoto last week.
Last Friday, joint elements of the Catanduanes Provincial Intelligence Branch (CATPIB), Provincial Investigation and Detective Management Branch (PIDMB), Gigmoto Municipal Police Station (MPS) and 2nd Provincial Mobile Force Company (PMFC) led by Capt. Efren A. Paloyo, acting Gigmoto police chief, arrested Danilo Tatad Alcantara Sr., after he handed over a small sachet of suspected shabu worth P500 to the poseur-buyer at 7:25 P.M. of Jan. 10, 2020.
According to the police, the 56-year old fisherman from barangay District 1 is included in the National Watchlist for Illegal Drugs (NWID) and in the Provincial Recalibrated Top 10 Illegal Drug Personalities or priority targets of the Catanduanes PNP.
Aside from the sachet he sold to the police, the suspect also yielded 21 other small sachets containing white crystalline substance believed to be “shabu”, the P500 buy-bust money and other non-drug items.
Two days earlier, on Jan. 8 at 7:42 A.M., the No. 10 in the same provincial priority target list, Jarbo Tadoy Aguilar, also known as “Jabo”, was collared by joint elements of Virac Municipal Police Station (MPS), the Regional Police Drug Enforcement Unit- Regional Intelligence Division (RPDEU-RID) and Provincial Special Operations Group – Provincial Intelligence Branch (PSOG-PIB) led by Maj. Bon Billy Timuat, Virac’s acting police chief, in a similar operation in Sta. Elena.
Confiscated from the 27-year old unemployed resident of Marcelo Alberto were a small sachet containing suspected shabu, the buy-bust money and other non-drug items.
Separate cases for violation of Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, are now being prepared for filing against the two suspects.