CAMP OLIVAS, Pampanga — Police operatives across Central Luzon disrupted multiple drug distribution networks in a series of coordinated operations Wednesday, arresting nine suspects and confiscating over 218 grams of suspected shabu valued at P1.48 million, according to a report released Thursday by the Police Regional Office 3 (PRO3).

The operations, spanning four municipalities, began with a pre-dawn sting in Abucay, Bataan, where PRO3’s Abucay Municipal Police Station apprehended two individuals — identified as “Mark” and “Lito”—with 79.99 grams of shabu. By afternoon, authorities shifted focus to Mabalacat City, Pampanga, where the Mabalacat City Police Station-SDEU arrested two street-level suspects, “JR” and “Soy,” seizing 30 grams of the illegal substance.

The largest single seizure occurred in Angeles City at 4:20 p.m., where joint forces from the Angeles City Drug Enforcement Unit and Police Station 3 arrested a high-value target, “Ron Ron,” with 60 grams of shabu.

Earlier, in Norzagaray, Bulacan, four suspects were detained after a buy-bust by the Norzagaray Municipal Police Station yielded 48.7 grams of shabu, an unlicensed firearm, and drug paraphernalia.

PRO3 Regional Director PBGen Ponce Rogelio I. Peñones Jr. attributed the crackdown’s success to “the intensified implementation of directives from the Chief, PNP, to dismantle drug networks and reduce the availability of illegal drugs in Central Luzon.”

In a statement, he emphasized that “PRO3 remains committed to its mission of creating safer and drug-free communities across the region,” adding that inter-agency collaboration and intelligence-sharing were critical to the operations.