A buy-bust operation conducted by the Catanduanes police in the capital town last week led to the arrest of a newly identified personality who tried to sell dried marijuana to a police officer masquerading as a buyer.
Aside from 75 grams of marijuana, Chris Mark Pia Brizo, 24, a resident of Inalmasinan, Caramoran, was found in possession of more or less 10 grams of suspected shabu or methamphetamine hydrochloride when he was arrested at 7 PM of July 4, 2025.
Joint elements of the Virac municipal police station, the Regional Police Drug Enforcement Unit 5 (RPDEU5) and the Provincial Intelligence Unit (PIU) Catanduanes collared the suspect, a delivery boy at a water refilling station, at the bridge in barangay Sta. Domingo after he handed over two pieces of zip-locked transparent plastic sachet containing dried leaves believed to be marijuana to the poseur-buyer.
Also confiscated were the P1,000 genuine bill used as buy-bust money, 11 more zip-locked sachets containing suspected dried marijuana, a small plastic container containing suspected dried marijuana, a stick containing suspected dried marijuana, a transparent plastic sachet containing white crystalline substance believed to be shabu, a glass water pipe, improvised tube pipe, a cellphone and a blue backpack.
The police said the suspected shabu has an estimated street value of P80,000 while the dried marijuana leaves were believed to be worth P7,500.
Brizo will be charged with violation of Sections 5 and 11 of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 for the illegal sale and possession of dangerous drugs.
In a statement, the newly designated Virac chief of police, PMaj. Kenneth Ding Gutierrez, said there will be no let-up in their campaign against illegal drugs.
“We will not allow criminals to live freely in the community,” he stated, vowing that the local police would perform its duty to provide speedy and effective public service to every Viracnon.
In a related development, a barangay official turned over a plastic sachet containing suspected shabu that he picked up on the street last July 2, thinking it was garbage.
The official voluntarily surrendered the sachet to the police station, with the authorities examining the contents of the sachet for proper documentation and inventory pursuant to existing procedures.
The contents of the sachet will be subjected to laboratory examination to determine its true nature and weight.
PMaj. Gutierrez said a probe is continuing to determine the owner of the suspected illegal drug.
“The fight against illegal drugs is not just the responsibility of the local police but of the whole community. It is important to have unity and cooperation of everyone in order to maintain peace and order in the community,” he added.