GENERAL SANTOS CITY—Anti-drug operatives arrested an American citizen after allegedly being found in possession of suspected metamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu in a hotel here early Wednesday.
Kath Abad, public information officer of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Region 12, said suspect Hyun Seong Hong was nabbed following a search in his room at the Microtel hotel in Barangay Dadiangas Heights at 1:10 a.m.
She said the operation, which was directly supervised by PDEA-12 director Lyndon Aspacio, was based on a search warrant issued by the Regional Trial Court here.
According to Abad, agents recovered from Hong’s “possession and control” around 10 grams of suspected shabu with an estimated market value of P75,000, three pieces aluminum foil strips, an improvised tooter, an improvised needle and a roll of aluminum foil during a raid.
“The suspect is currently undergoing investigation and will be subjected to a drug test,” she said in a statement.
Abad said they staged the operation based on a tip from an informant about the presence of shabu at Hong’s hotel room.
She said they immediately applied for a search warrant after getting initial confirmation on the matter.
PDEA-12 records showed that the 53-year-old Hong, who is reportedly a businessman, is a resident of 2710 Park Way, Irvine, California in the United States and just on vacation in the city.
The suspect, who is a US immigrant from South Korea, was listed by the agency as a “high value target.”
Abad said Hong, who is currently detained at the PDEA-12 lockup, will be charged for violation of Section 11 (possession of dangerous drugs) and Section 12 (possession of drug paraphernalia), Article II of Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.