Davao taxi driver arrested for shabu, marijuana, bullets in Kidapawan

KIDAPAWAN CITY --Authorities nabbed a taxi driver from Davao City after they recovered from him more than a kilo of dried marijuana leaves and shabu, both considered illegal drugs, along the national highway here, Thursday. Police identified the suspect as Jose Mari Tang, 36, of Marfori Heights, Matina, Davao City. Tang was first flagged down by enforcers of the Traffic Management Unit (TMU) when he failed to present to them his driver’s license. While Tang was being interrogated by TMU, operatives of the Kidapawan City Police, who were positioned nearby, saw him threw something, which turned to be a small sachet filled withshabu. The three taxi passengers, all unidentified, right away alighted from the vehicle and escaped. Immediately, Senior Superintendent Alex Tagum, provincial director of the Cotabato Police Provincial Office (CPPO), ordered a secondary search on Tang’s taxi. They recovered a traveling bag with a plastic cellophane inside containing dried marijuana leaves.Also, two bullets from a 9mm pistol were also taken from the bag. Tagum hinted the drugs were bought from the town of Pikit in North Cotabato. As to Tang’s supplier, Tagum and his team have yet to find out. Police are already readying charges of possession of illegal drugs and ammunition against Tang while manhunt is still on against the other three taxi passengers whom they believed were also involved in drug trafficking. Meantime, three suspected drug peddlers were arrested in separate buy-bust raids in towns of M’lang, Magpet, and Arakan, all in North Cotabato, since Wednesday. Tagum, since he assumed post in September, has ordered his men to strengthen campaigns against illegal drugs. He also directed all police station chiefs to place personnel in static posts in strategic areas and conduct regular patrolling along the highways and in barangays Oplan Lambat Bitag Sasakyan (operation againstcolorumvehicles) Oplan Sita (highway check) and Oplan ‘Sleepless Nights’ (operations against possession of firearms and ammunitions in karaoke bars, night clubs, etc.).