By Edwin Fernandez

BUY-BUST. A police officer conducts an inventory of the illegal “shabu” stuff seized from a couple (seated right) after they were arrested in a buy-bust operation in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao del Norte, on Monday (April 13, 2026). A kilo of shabu, amounting to PHP6.8 million, was confiscated from the suspect. (Photo courtesy of Sultan Kudarat MPO)

COTABATO CITY – Police in Maguindanao del Norte arrested a couple on Monday afternoon and seized from them PHP6.8 million worth of shabu during a buy-bust operation.

Lt. Col. Esmael Madin, chief of the Sultan Kudarat municipal police office, identified the suspects only by their aliases, “Gemma,” 28, and “Usop,” 33, both residents of Barangay Limbo in said town.

“A 9mm pistol with ammunition was also seized from Usop,” Madin said in a report on Tuesday.

Madin said a buy-bust operation was carried out at 4:50 p.m., participated by the Philippine National Police – Special Action Force, Philippine Army and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.

The couple did not resist arrest.

Seized from the couple were a kilo of shabu items and the buy-bust money.

“They have been under surveillance for more than two months,” Madin said.

Now detained at Sultan Kudarat police detention facility, the couple is facing charges for violation of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, and RA 10591, also known as the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act. (PNA)