OLONGAPO PNP, PDEA SEIZE 8 KILOS OF MARIJUANA
OLONGAPO CITY – Police arrested the suspected supplier of high-grade marijuana in the Bataan-Zambales area in an entrapment operation Monday (March 26, 2012). Eight marijuana bricks equivalent to eight kilos were also seized from the suspect.
Olongapo City Police Director Senior Superintendent Christopher Tambungan identified the suspect as Jaime Paut y Bagay, a 34-year old welder and native of Kalinga, Apayao who is residing at Barangay Balaybay, Castillejos, Zambales.
In a report to Olongapo Mayor James “Bong” Gordon, Jr., Tambungan said the suspect has been under surveillance for a month by the City Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Team (CAIDSOT) following several reports tagging him as supplier of marijuana fruiting tops from Baguio City to Bataan, Olongapo and Zambales.
Gordon lauded the Olongapo PNP, particularly the CAIDSOT, and the Olongapo-Zambales team of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEAD) for the joint operation that eventually led to the entrapment and arrest of the suspect.
“The efforts of our police authorities and the PDEA to curb the illegal drug trade deserves recognition and support from the city government and the entire community,” Gordon said, reminding the law enforcement agencies to leave no stone unturned in their efforts to wipe out the illegal drug trade because “the drug menace destroys the very core of our society – the family – which is the first to suffer when a member of the family becomes a user of illegal drugs.” Tambungan said an undercover operative posed as a buyer and the suspect subsequently agreed to deliver one brick of marijuana, equivalent to one kilo, to a compound at Barangay West Bajac-Bajac in Olongapo City.
After the delivery was made, Paut noticed an approaching operative and immediately ran and boarded a tricycle to escape. Pursuing operatives caught up with him in a Zambales-bound Victory Liner bus at the National Highway, Barangay Barretto in the northernmost part of Olongapo.
Found in the black backpack carried by the suspect were seven bricks of marijuana, equivalent to seven kilos. The suspect is now detained at the OCPO Police Station 1. He will be charged with the violation of RA 9165.
