Twenty-five pieces of suspected ecstasy tablets worth about P37,500 were seized and nine men were nabbed in a buy-bust operation at a house in Purok Lubi, Barangay 3 in Bacolod City, at about 2:40 p.m. yesterday.

Arrested were Ericson Jarder, 34, of Brgy. Bata, Erwin Lo, 38, Roberto Lo, 38, Joseph Lo, 34, Antonio Flora, 32, all of Brgy. 3, Randy Aguilos, 39, of Brgy. Punta-Taytay, all in Bacolod, Joemarie Salutin, 32, of Cadiz City, Mark Joseph Tobias, 23, of La Carlota City, and Arnold Perez, 23, of Sagay City, all in Negros Occidental, police records show.

Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Intelligence Officer 1, James Afuang, one of those who conducted the raid, told the DAILY STAR that the operation is in line with the celebration of the MassKara Festival in Bacolod.

Aside from 20 diazepam 10 milligram tablets, suspected to be ecstasy, five elongated sachets of suspected shabu, P500 in marked money, seven disposable lighters, and one improvised tooter were recovered from siblings Joseph and Erwin, who were the subject of the buy-bust, Afuang said.

Jarder, Roberto Lo, Flora, Aguilos, Salutin, Tobias and Perez will be charged for visiting a drug den, while the Lo brothers may face charges for the sale, possession of drugs and its paraphernalia, and maintenance of a den, Afuang said.

He said those arrested are now locked up at Police Station 2 while the recovered prohibited drugs were turned over to the Provincial Crime Laboratory of examination yesterday.

This was the first operation of the PDEA-Negros Occidental in Bacolod where they recovered suspected ecstasy, Afuang said.*SGG

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