by Alexandria San Juan
Police seized around P4 million worth of shabu and some firearms in anti-drug operations that led to the arrest of five persons, including two alleged notorious drug peddlers, in Quezon City early yesterday morning.
Chief Supt. Guillermo Eleazar, Quezon City Police District director, said Ricky Tuballa, 49 – reportedly a known drug pusher operating in Quezon City, Caloocan City, and Bulacan – was arrested during a buy-bust operation conducted by members of the QCPD Station 4-Drug Enforcement Unit in front of a supermarket on Gen. Luis St., Barangay Nova Proper, Novaliches at at around 4:30 a.m.
Police seized from him four sachets of shabu, a .38 caliber revolver, drug paraphernalia, and the marked money used by a cop who served as the poseur-buyer, according to Senior Insp. Dennis Francisco of the QCPD Station SDEU.
After an hour, police launched a follow-up operation against Emmanuel Salamatin, 42, in an apartment in Barangay San Agustin, after Tuballa named him during interrogation that he was his supplier of illegal drugs.
During the raid, police collared two men and a woman who were caught sniffing shabu in Salamatin’s place. They were identified as Michael Luna, 39, of Bulacan; Melanio Cruz Jr., 63, of Barangay San Agustin; and Jemasobel Uy, 24, of Caloocan City.
Confiscated from the arrested drug suspects were a big Ziplock bag and 38 plastic sachets containing around 800 grams of shabu with an estimated street value of P4 million, police said.
Also recovered from Salamatin were a homemade .22-caliber submachine gun, two 9mm Armscor pistols, a homemade 9mm revolver, a .45-caliber gun, drug paraphernalia, and P20,000 buy-bust money.
All the arrested suspects are facing illegal drug charges. Tuballa and Salamatin were also slapped with illegal possession of firearms and ammunition charges.