CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (Pdea) agents over the weekend arrested an Australian and two Filipinos in a raid on a drug and sex den in Olongapo City, Zambales.

The drug-enforcement agents, armed with a search warrant issued by Judge Fernando Sagun Jr. of Branch 78 of the Regional Trial Court in Quezon City, arrested Robert Paul Mason, an Australian, and Mark Anthony Quinday and Enrique “Jun” Magsaysay Jr.

They were taken to the PDEA headquarters on National Irrigation Administration Road in East Triangle, Diliman, Quezon City

PDEA Director General Dionisio Santiago said a joint team from the elite PDEA Special Enforcement Service, Complaint and Reaction Unit and PDEA Regional Office 3 implemented Search Warrants 4560 and 4561.

Santiago said the operation was conducted at Ces’t La-vie Hotel on Gordon Avenue in Olongapo City at about 12:30 a.m. on Saturday.

PDEA agents confiscated from the suspects six Demerol tablets, several transparent plastic sachets containing methamphetamine hydrochloride, or shabu, a pocket digital weighing scale, a Valium 10-milligram tablet, several drug-use paraphernalia such as disposable lighters, glass tubes, aluminum foil, improvised tooters, disposable syringes and needles for injecting dangerous drugs, and several rounds of 9mm ammunition.

Operatives also rescued five young girls, three of them minors, who were turned over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development for proper care and counseling.

“This operation was the result of several months of intelligence operations and continuous surveillance. We are fortunate that no operatives were hurt during the implementation of the search warrants because intelligence reports indicated that the suspects were armed, dangerous and well-connected,” Santiago said.

He added that the suspects will be charged with violation of Section 6 (Maintenance of a Drug Den)
in relation to Section 26 (c) (Attempt or Conspiracy in Maintaining a Drug Den), Article II of Republic Act 9165.