DAET, Camarines Norte – In a swift midnight crackdown, authorities seized approximately 3,000 grams of suspected shabu worth P20.4 million during a buy-bust operation in Barangay V on Wednesday night, December 3, 2025, leading to the arrest of three high-value suspects – two men and one woman – by the Philippine National Police (PNP).
The operation, a textbook sting, unfolded around 11 p.m. when PNP operatives from the Camarines Norte Provincial Police Office handed over boodle money laced with a genuine P1,000 bill to the suspects in exchange for the illicit cargo. The shabu, packaged in nine knot-tied and two heat-sealed plastic sachets, was immediately confiscated, with inventory proceedings underway at the scene. “This is a significant blow to the illegal drug trade in our province,” said P/Senior Supt. Reynaldo Biag, the provincial police director, praising the team’s precision. “These suspects are linked to a larger network, and their arrest will disrupt supply lines.”
The trio, whose identities remain withheld pending formal charges, faces multiple counts under Republic Act No. 9165, the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, including violation of Section 5 (sale of dangerous drugs) and Section 11 (possession). They are currently detained at the provincial headquarters, with the seized shabu forwarded to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) for forensic analysis.
This bust marks a high note in Bicol’s anti-drug campaign, coming on the heels of similar operations that have netted over P50 million in contraband this quarter. For Daet’s tight-knit community, still scarred by the drug war’s shadows, the arrests feel like a fragile win – a reminder that in the archipelago’s endless battle against the white plague, every kilo seized is a step toward safer streets.