In a significant anti-drug operation, the Iloilo City Police Office Station 4 apprehended four family members in Barangay Calumpang, Molo district, on the evening of December 25, 2024. The operation led to the seizure of approximately 150 grams of shabu, valued at PHP1.02 million. The arrested individuals, identified as alias ‘Rommel,’ 56, his wife alias ‘Cecel,’ 56, and their children alias ‘Caloy,’ 21, and alias ‘Nene,’ 20, were found to be operating a family-run drug business. The family had been repeatedly warned by local officials and residents but continued their illegal activities, claiming it was their livelihood. The police confiscated 10 heat-sealed and two knot-tied sachets of shabu, along with buy-bust money and other items. Captain Ryan Christ Inot, officer-in-charge of ICPS4, revealed that the family’s drug operation involved the parents repackaging the drugs while the children handled deliveries. Two other children of the family are already incarcerated for similar offenses, with one in the National Bilibid Prison and another in the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in Jaro. The father has a prior record of a robbery case. The family’s drug distribution network extended to Molo, Arevalo, and City Proper districts, with drugs being transported via roll-on roll-off from their son in Bilibid. Captain Inot described the family as stockmen and distributors rather than drug lords.
