More than P300,000 worth of shabu were confiscated by the police in a buy-bust operation in Virac that targeted a tricycle driver allegedly using his livelihood as a cover.
Joint elements of the Regional Police Drug Enforcement Unit in Catanduanes, the Catanduanes Provincial Intelligence Unit, and the Virac police station led by Capt. Emil Yebra, under the supervision of Police Chief Maj. Antonio Perez, arrested Eddie Molina Bien, 40, a resident of Our Lady’s Village in barangay San Isidro Village at 8:55 AM of June 24, 2021 after he handed over a sachet of the illegal drugs to an undercover police officer.
Seized from him during a subsequent search and inventory at the scene before designated witnesses from the media and the barangay council were two more sachets of shabu, with the contraband later found to have a total weight of 44.751 grams and a street value of P304,306.00.
Bien is reportedly included in the Recalibrated Priority Database on Illegal Drugs and is considered as a High-Value Individual.
Based on intelligence reports, the suspect had been active in the drug trade in the past year even during the pandemic and continued his activities in the first semester of 2021, using his tricycle to deliver illegal drugs to his customers at designated areas.
He is now detained at the police station and faces twin charges of illegal sale and possession of dangerous drugs in violation of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drug Act of 2002