A 26-year-old college student faces the possibility of spending time behind bars following his arrest in a buy-bust operation last week in the capital town of Virac.
Elements of the Virac Municipal Police Station led by deputy chief of police PLt. Eliseo L. Villar, Jr., together with personnel of the Catanduanes Police Intelligence Unit (CatPIU), Regional Police Drug Enforcement Unit 5 (RPDEU 5) and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) under the supervision of police chief PMaj. Kenneth Ding C. Gutierrez confiscated from the suspect, a resident of San Isidro Village, the sachet containing white crystalline substance believed to be shabu that the latter sold to an undercover police officer.
Also seized as evidence were two more sachets containing the same substance, with the three sachets having a total estimated weight of 2.88 grams with a street value of P19,584.
Non-drug items which were likewise taken by the police included a genuine P500 bill, 11 pieces of counterfeit P500 bills bearing the same serial number, and a four-wheeled EMC Golf NWOW electric bike that the suspect was using at the time of the transaction.
The inventory and marking of the evidence was made at the place of the incident in the presence of a barangay kagawad and a representative of the Department of Justice, with the operation duly recorded using two units of Body-Worn Cameras.
A check of the suspect, described as a street level individual, using the Investigation Solution System found no other cases or warrants of arrest against him.
A source at the barangay identified the suspect as one Ramsses James Buena.