Badiangan ‘kagawad’ faces raps over drugs, loose guns

ILOILO City – Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency ( PDEA) Region 6 operatives arrested a bar an gay

and his helper in Sinuagan, Badiangan, Iloilo kagawad yesterday.

Three sachets of suspected shabu valued at P5,000 were seized from

George Vasquez, 44, and Ruperto Estribor, 34. Kagawad

The suspects also yielded an Armscor shotgun, a CZ compact .9mm pistol, a .38 Smith and Wesson revolver, and several ammunition during the operation at around 1:30 p.m.

Detained at the PDEA Region 6 custodial facility, they face charges for violation of t he Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 and the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act.

Vasquez denied trafficking illegal drugs but admitted owning the firearms.

He did not have t he pertinent documents to prove his legal ownership of the weapons. “Ginatago ko na ang mga

( I was pusil kay ana ran ka tiyo tasked to keep those guns ko nga napatay na which my late uncle used to own),” Vasquez said. “

sachets shabu Pero indi na akon ang

( But I mga ka nga don’t own those sachets of nakuha nila sa akon shabu they recovered from me),” he stressed.

PDEA regional director Wardley Getalla t agged Vasquez as a “high- value target.”

According to Getalla, Vasquez turned himself in to the authorities at the height of Oplan Double Barrel.

“He ( Vasquez) became inactive after that but he went back to drug pushing recently,” said the PDEA official./ PN

IAN PAUL CORDERO/PN Barangay Kagawad George Vasquez (right) of Sinuagan, Badiangan, Iloilo and his helper Ruperto Estribor sits at the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Region 6 office in Iloilo City after their arrest. Placed before them are the sachets of suspected...