4 drug den operators arrested by PDEA-BARMM agents

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January 28, 2026 | 7:01pm

COTABATO CITY — Agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency seized P115,600 worth of shabu from four peddlers who were facilitating pot sessions during an entrapment operation in Barangay Sarmiento in Parang, Maguindanao del Norte, on Tuesday, January 27.

The four suspects, one of them a woman, are now in the custody of the PDEA–Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and will be prosecuted for violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

Benjamin Recites III, director of the PDEA-BARMM, told reporters on Wednesday that the suspects were immediately arrested after selling 17 grams of shabu worth P115,600 to undercover agents during a trade-off conducted inside their drug den in Barangay Sarmiento in Parang.

Recites said the entrapment operation was supported by local executives in Parang and units of the PRO-BARMM.

Barangay officials and residents of Sarmiento confirmed to reporters that the four suspects connived to operate a drug den in a secluded area of the barangay, where they facilitated pot sessions for buyers of their illegal merchandise. 

Recites said the entrapment operation that led to the suspects’ arrest and the confiscation of P115,600 worth of shabu was based on reports from Barangay Sarmiento residents about their illegal activities.

The drug den of the four detained suspects is now being guarded by barangay officials and volunteer community watchmen.