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John Unson - Philstar.com
January 8, 2026 | 6:39pm
The four drug den operators entrapped in Cotabato City by anti-narcotics agents on Wednesday, January 7, 2026, are now detained, to be prosecuted for violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
Philstar.com / John Unson
COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Anti-narcotics agents clamped down four men together operating a clandestine drug den in Barangay Rosary Heights 11 in this city, arresting them on Wednesday, January 7, in an operation assisted by local community leaders.
All four suspects are now locked in the detention facility of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao at the PC Hill area in the center of Cotabato City.
Benjamin Recites III, director of PDEA-BARMM, said on Thursday that the four suspects were immediately arrested after selling to their agents P115,600 worth of shabu during a tradeoff right in their drug den in Barangay Rosary Heights 11.
The entrapment operation that led to their arrest was laid after their own relatives reported to barangay officials and to Cotabato City Mayor Bruce Matabalao their peddling of shabu to buyers from barangays around.
City officials have confirmed that the four suspects also facilitated pot sessions in their hideout.
Under state law, drug den operation is a non-bailable criminal offense.
Recites said they are thankful to the city officials and their constituent-barangay leaders for promptly reporting the illegal activities of the four now-detained suspects.
PDEA-BARMM agents and city officials immediately closed down the drug den of the four suspects, now guarded by volunteer community watchmen, barangay officials and members of the multi-sector Cotabato Peace and Order Council.
