High-Value Individual and 10 Others Arrested in Iloilo City Drug Bust
ILOILO CITY – The City Drug Enforcement Unit 6, headed by Police Captain Val Cambel, apprehended Roberto Latoza, 26, from Barangay San Isidro, Jaro, for allegedly selling shabu. The operation was conducted at around 5:15 pm on Sunday, April 30, 2023, in Barangay Desamparados, Jaro.
According to Captain Cambel, a police poseur-buyer bought a plastic sachet of suspected shabu from Latoza using buy-bust money amounting to 7,000 pesos. The authorities seized an additional ten plastic sachets of suspected shabu from Latoza, with a total weight of 60 grams and an estimated value of 408,000 pesos. As a result, the police considered Latoza a high-value individual.
Aside from the drugs, authorities also recovered non-drug items such as buy-bust money, digital weighing scales, a cellphone, empty sachets, a coin purse, aluminum foil, two lighters, aluminum foil with residue, and drug paraphernalia.
During their search of Latoza’s boarding house, authorities apprehended ten other individuals allegedly caught in the act using shabu. These include Felipe “Bebe” Yanco, 36, from Victorias City, Negros Occidental; Asher “Intsik” Sanchez, 19, from Zone 2, Alalasan, Lapuz, Iloilo City; Klyde “Nonoy” Bayawa, 16, from San Isidro, Jaro; Mark “Kenken” Dela Peña, 20, from Brgy. Desamparados Jaro; Angelo “Toto” Galea, 18, from Habitat, San Isidro, Jaro; Leo “poyoy” Hubaldo, 34, from Brgy. Airport, Mandurriao; Elmer “Toto” Lucot, 39, from Brgy Lopez Jaena, Jaro; Armando “Aming” Diaz, 29, from Zone 4, Alalasan, Lapuz; Roel Raymundo “Sibad,” 37, from Rizal, Lapaz; and Carlos “Caloy” Bitonga, 38, from Gran Plains Subdivision, San Isidro Village, Jaro.
Captain Cambel stated that Latoza was the one repacking and distributing the shabu to the other suspects. The authorities are also investigating how Latoza was able to rent the house in the area, given that he is not a resident.
All eleven suspects are currently detained at the Jaro PNP and will face charges under the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 (Republic Act 9165).
