P5-M shabu, weapons found in mayor’s home
Mayor Aniceto Lopez Jr. of Maasim town, Sarangani surrendered to Senator Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao .
A raid on the house of Mayor Aniceto Lopez Jr. of Maasim town, Sarangani allegedly yielded P5 million worth of suspected methamphetamine hydrochloride, or “shabu”, and assorted high-powered firearms and ammunition.
Authorities also claimed to have found a mini-laboratory with equipment used to manufacture illegal drugs as well as pills that appeared to be Ecstasy tablets, improvised explosive devices, and a book containing lists of alleged illegal drug transactions and persons.
The mayor, who was not at home during the raid, surrendered to Senator Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao a few hours later.
He denied accusations against him and claimed that he was not aware how the items allegedly seized from his house came to be there.
Lopez is in the drug watchlist of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) although he is not in President Rodrigo Duterte’s list of narco-politicians.
PDEA director Aaron Aquino said Pacquiao turned over custody of Lopez to them. The mayor would be charged with violation of Republic Act 9165 and illegal possession of firearms and explosives.
He will be detained at PDEA Region 12 prior to turnover to the Philippine National Police, Aquino said.
PDEA agents, together with the local military and police, swooped down on the Lopez residence in Barangay Lumasal at around 3 a.m. yesterday on the strength of a search warrant issued by the Quezon City Regional Trial Court.
“Wala po si mayor doon that time. We thought nagkaroon ng leak ang operation namin kasi may information kami na andun siya sa loob ng compound nya. At the time na pumasok kami wala siya. We just conducted search sa compound,” Aquino said. He was in the area during the raid.
(Mayor was not there that time. We thought there was a leak about the operation because we earlier had information that he was inside his compound but when we entered, he was not there. We just conducted search of the compound.)
Aquino said the mayor is the leader of El Patron Drug Group which operates in their area and nearby provinces.
He also alleged that the mayor may be a supporter of Ansar Khalifa Philippines which was behind several bombings in the region.