A 45-year-old farmer was arrested in a buy-bust operation conducted by local police and the Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit (PDEU) in Barangay Elizabeth, Dingras, Ilocos Norte, on Sunday afternoon, February 22.

The suspect, identified as Arnel Singco, alias “Wara,” a resident of the same barangay, was caught selling a heat-sealed transparent plastic sachet containing a white crystalline substance believed to be shabu to an undercover police officer around 5:57 p.m.

Confiscated from the suspect were two more heat-sealed transparent plastic sachets containing suspected shabu, one black pouch with pink lining, three open empty plastic sachets, three folded aluminum foils, three small pieces of paper used as packaging, two black lighters, a ₱1,000 bill used as marked money, and one cellular phone. Authorities estimated the total weight of the seized substance at approximately one gram.

Singco was brought to the Dingras District Hospital for medical examination before being taken to the Dingras Municipal Police Station for documentation. Police said an appropriate case for violation of Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, will be filed against the suspect.