Butuan City (CNN Philippines) — Police seized around ₱4.6 million worth of shabu and arrested two suspects during a joint police and military operation in Bunawan, Agusan Del Sur on Wednesday morning.
It is the largest shabu bust in Agusan del Sur for 2016.
Senior Inspector Ma. Gemma Masangkay, police chief of Bunawan, said they confiscated nine plastic sachets of shabu weighing about 395 grams with “assorted drug paraphernalia” during the operation. Suspects Saada Macasalong and Jamil Sultan were caught in possession of the drugs.
Masangkay said the area where the suspects were caught is a known hotspot for illegal drugs.
“It has been raided four times in the past, once in 2014, twice in 2015 and two more times earlier this year,” she said. “So this is the fifth operation conducted in that area.”
She added that they undertook surveillance and monitoring before they moved on eight suspected homes.
“The ₱4.6 million worth of drugs were from five of the houses, we will also file a case against those who were not caught during the operation,” Masangkay said.
According to figures posted on the state-run Philippine News Agency website, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency has seized more than ₱8 billion worth of illegal drugs during the first 100 days of President Rodrigo Duterte’s six-year term.
