KIDAPAWAN CITY – Law enforcement authorities in Wao, Lanao del Sur, successfully seized ₱1 million worth of shabu following a confrontation with drug dealers during an entrapment operation on Wednesday, October 30.
Gil Cesario Castro, director of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, reported that the operation aimed to apprehend a dealer named Paulo in Barangay Kili Kili East.
However, the situation escalated when Paulo’s armed accomplices, acting as lookouts, opened fire after suspecting the presence of law enforcement officers intending to buy drugs.
Despite the gunfight, Paulo and his associates managed to escape, but authorities recovered the abandoned shabu at the location where the exchange was supposed to take place.
Local barangay leaders and municipal officials in Wao have pledged their cooperation in pursuing criminal charges against Paulo and his group, who are currently being sought through a joint manhunt by the Lanao del Sur Provincial Police Office and the Army’s 103rd Infantry Brigade.
In a separate incident, a high-value target identified only as Noro, a 55-year-old widow from the same area, was arrested. She is currently detained at the PDEA-BARMM Jail Facility pending inquest proceedings for violating Republic Act 9165.
Notably, Noro was previously arrested in 2023 for a similar offense. During her latest arrest, authorities confiscated a heat-sealed plastic sachet containing approximately 50 grams of suspected shabu, valued at ₱340,000, along with buy-bust money and a mobile phone.
