SUBIC, Zambales — A British national and his live-in partner was arrested by joint operatives of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and the Zambales Police Provincial Office (ZPPO) after the discovery of a marijuana plantation inside their rented house at Phase 1, Block 2, Magdalena Homes, Barangay Sto. Tomas of this town.
ZPPO director Senior Supt. Felix Verbo Jr. identified the suspects as Simon Stuart McLaren Watson, 44, andย live-in partner Rizza Fernandez, 28, native of Mindoro.
PDEA Region 3 director Atty. Gil Pabilona who led the operation said the suspectsโ clients were mostly foreigners.
The authorities first conducted a sting operation whereby a police poseur-buyer was able to purchase marijuana worth P28,000 from the suspect.
This prompted a raid on the rented house of the suspects where police found two rooms fully equipped as greenhouses with 70 pots of flowering Kush cannabis plants worth some P5 million.
Subic Mayor Jay Khonghun lauded the drug-bust operation and hopes that the Municipality of Subic will reach a drug-free status in the next few years.
The suspects now face charges for cultivating cannabis plants, possession and selling of marijuana.
