INQUIRER Global Nation

MANDAUE City officials yesterday called for an investigation into last week's drug bust by operatives of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Central Visayas (PDEA-7) and the Mandaue City Police Office at a mall in Mandaue City.

Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes and Mandaue City Vice Mayor Carlo Fortuna voiced surprise over the PNP lab results which showed that only three of the six shabu packets seized by the joint team tested positive for shabu.

Fortuna said the Philippine National Police laboratory results suggests two possibilities for PDEA-7: that there may have been switching of evidence or there was a failure of intelligence on their part prior to carrying out a “level two” operation.

“We are not accusing anyone but one can't help but ask whether there was a failure of intelligence or was there a switching of the evidences? Anything could happen with that big amount,” Fortuna said.

“Very likely there was switching,” Fortuna added. “It's a botched operation and it doesn't speak well of them (PDEA).”

A joint team of PDEA-7 agents and anti-drug units of the Mandaue City police earlier claimed that P195,000 worth of suspected drugs were seized from two suspects in a buy-bust.

The three medium sized sachets were supposed to have a street value of P65,000 each.

The first suspect, a Marawi City resident named Patalinang Munte, carried the drug stash.

Her cohort, Julius Rodriguez, facilitated the deal with a Mandaue City police agent posing as a buyer.

The two were arrested at the food section of the Super Metro mall in Mandaue City.

Taken from Munte's possession were the three medium sized sachets and three small sachets placed inside a Vicks Vapo Rub container that contained a substance which later tested positive for shabu.

The suspects were presented to Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes and taken into custody by the PDEA-7.

The drugs were sent for testing to the PNP crime lab.

The three medium sized sachets tested negative for shabu while the street value of the three small packets of shabu were placed at P500 each.

PDEA team leader Rey Yap team said they may have been tricked by the syndicate behind the drug deal.

He denied there was any switching of evidence.

Cortes said that while he backs the creation of a PDEA detachment in Mandaue City, he wants an inquiry into the case.