A British man and his Filipina girlfriend have been arrested after 70 marijuana plants worth five million pesos were found in their Subic apartment.
Senior Superintendent Felix Verbo, director of the Zambales Provincial Police Office, has identified the suspects as Simon Stuart Mclaren Watson, aged 42, and Rizza Fernandez, 28, who were living in a rented flat in the Santo Tomas area of the city.
The early-morning buy-bust operation today (Friday, January 11) was conducted by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and Zambales Provincial Police Office.
Sr. Supt. Verbo said the marijuana plants were found growing under lights in two bedrooms of the house.
He added that the plants were Kush, a strain of marijuana originally from Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. The name is derived from the Hindu Kush mountain range.
PDEA Regional Director Gil Pabilona said the suspects were put under surveillance for a month after a tip-off from neighbours that the premises was being used to sell drugs to foreigners.
After gathering sufficient evidence, the police and PDEA, together with local government and barangay officials, prepared a buy-bust operation.
Watson allowed an undercover agent to enter his property and allegedly sold him a quantity of the drug. After this was done, the arrests were made.
Fernandez, who is originally from Mindoro Occidental, denied ever smoking marijuana. She said the plants were for the personal use of Watson to cure his asthma and alleviate a spinal injury he sustained two years ago.
The couple remain in the custody of the PDEA as charges are prepared against them.
City mayor Jay Khonghun has lauded the operation and said he hoped Subic would reach a drug-free status within the next few years.
As we reported last month, a Swiss man was arrested in Panglao for possession of a single marijuana plant. However, police were later forced to admit that the potted-plant belonging to Maik Kruesi was not in fact cannabis. The 32-year-old was later released from custody without charge.
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