Supt. Eduardo Guevara, Jr., Dinalupihan police chief, identified the suspects as Ferdinand Mallari, Eduardo Pecson, Elmer Angeles, Arnel Salvador and Audimar Simsuangco.
The suspects were nabbed in the residence of Mallari which is adjacent to a busy national road in Barangay Rizal.
“Isa itong malaking accomplishment sa pangunguna ng PDEA sa laban sa illegal drugs. Isa ito sa pinakamalaking huli sa Dinalupihan,” Guevara said.
Agent Marlou Ordona, PDEA provincial chief, said they conducted almost one month of surveillance on the group.
Armed with a search warrant, agents allegedly found 28 medium size sachets of shabu in one of the bedrooms of Mallari.
“Nagulat kami sa aming nakita na malaking halaga ng shabu na umaabot ng P800,000,” Ordona said.
He called the group with members tagged high value target as “Rizal Drug Group” allegedly headed by Mallari.
Ordona said the group sourced their supply of shabu every Wednesdays and Thursdays in Pampanga and Olongapo City.
“Organized ang pagbebenta nila ng shabu. Isa hanggang dalawang tao lamang ang kumukuha, hindi maraming tao,” the PDEA agent said.
He said that the drug den was about 30 meters away from the barangay hall and near a school.
“Nakakalungkot. Ang sabi ng barangay hindi nila alam,” Ordona said.
“Bilang pagtugon sa kampanya laban sa droga ng Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte, very aggressive ang Bataan sa pakikipagtulungan sa PDEA at pulisya para masugpo ang droga. Gusto nating matigil 100% ang droga sa tulong ng mga barangay offi cials at ating mga kababayan,” Dinalupihan Mayor Maria Angela Garcia said.
She congratulated PDEA and the police for the “big catch”. Mallari denied being the suspected leader.
“Hindi po, hindi totoo. Hindi sa amin ang droga,” he said.
The other suspects also denied knowledge of the shabu. “Wala akong alam, nagkakatay lang ako ng manok dito sa bahay ng biyenan ko,” Pecson said.
“Walang nakuha sa akin, na sa labas ako ng bahay,” Simsuangco claimed.
