3 drug den owners in Koronadal City arrested

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March 19, 2026 | 6:48pm

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency 12 arrested three men after selling them P81,600 worth of shabu right in their drug den in Barangay Zone 1 in Koronadal City in South Cotabato late Tuesday, March 17.

Local executives told reporters on Thursday that the three suspects, now in the custody of PDEA 12, together facilitated pot sessions for buyers of their illegal merchandise in their drug den in Purok Gracia-Villa in Barangay Zone I in Koronadal City.

Charlene Magdurulang, director of PDEA 12, said on Thursday that the operation that resulted in the arrest of the three suspects and subsequent shutdown of their drug den was based on reports by their neighbors to city officials and to South Cotabato Gov. Reynaldo Tamayo Jr. about their peddling of shabu and marijuana in their barangay and their ownership of a makeshift drug den frequented by contacts from around.

Under Philippine law, the operation of a drug den is a non-bailable criminal offense.

All three suspects were immediately frisked and cuffed by PDEA 12 agents and policemen after they procured from them 12 grams of shabu, costing P81,600, during a tradeoff right in their drug den, now guarded by barangay officials and volunteer community watchmen.

Magdurulang said local executives in Koronadal City, the capital of South Cotabato, and provincial officials, among them Tamayo, now in his third and last term as governor, and units of the Police Regional Office 12 under Brig. Gen. Arnold Ardiente was instrumental in the entrapment operation that resulted in the arrest of the three suspects.