A report from the Nueva Ecija police identifi ed the suspect as Bernabe Reyes Candido, 56, whose arrest yielded some 240 grams of shabu in plastic sachets, a Norinco .45 pistol, fragmentation grenade and a digital weighing scale, among other items used for shabu processing.
The report from Nueva Ecija police director Supt. Ponciano Zafra said Candido was a “big time drug pusher” who had two arrest warrants for illegal drugs and possession of firearms. The warrants were issued by provincial Executive Judge Ana Marie Joson-Viterbo.
“Our focus is to stop the flow of drugs. The 240 grams we seized from Candido when repacked would equal 8,300 sachets costing P500 each. So with his arrest, we saved 8,300 drug users, mostly youths, from accessing their regular dose of shabu,” Zafra said.
Candido admitted to police that he had been a drug user for 20 years now as a driver for a bus line up to 2010.
Zafra said he is still looking into reports that Candido is under the protection of a ranking police officer. He noted reports that a police jacket and bull cap, as well as motorcycle plate numbers were also seized from Candido.
