TWO suspected drug dealers were arrested and P6.8 million worth of suspected shabu was seized during a “controlled delivery” operation by agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency at a bar in Makati City last Tuesday.
PDEA-NCR Director Joel Plaza identified the suspects as Alex Teehankee Zulueta of Makati and Brian James Macatangay Bantegui of San Juan City who were nabbed at the Motor Sports Bar on Doña Carmen St. corner Kalayaan Ave., Barangay Poblacion at around 4 p.m. after receiving a shipment of one kilo of high-grade shabu.
Plaza said the shabu was shipped by a certain Sam Khanna of 8838 Dugas road, San Antonio, Texas and consigned to Edison Chua, of No. 8456 Doña Carmen St., Makati City who turned out to be Zulueta.
The package, placed inside two water filter cartridges, arrived last Nov. 8. It was later found to be containing a kilo of shabu during “screening” by Bureau of Customs personnel
“An initial documentation and screening of the content of the package were carried out by BOC examiner that yielded positive result for the presence of methamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu),” said PDEA-NCR spokesman Blaine Canlas.
The package was turned over by the BOC to the PDEA for the conduct of the controlled delivery operation, said Canlas.
Five men were arrested in anti-drug operations in Pasig and Mandaluyong.
Brig. Gen Johnson Almazan, Eastern police district director, identified the five as Roderick Soriano, 23; Juliue Duenas, 26; Jerome Viray, 32; Rolando B. Calapi, 70; and his brother Ernesto, 66.
Recovered from them were seven sachets of suspected shabu. — Christian Oineza
