An alleged drug vendor was caught in the act of selling methamphetamine hydrochloride, an illegal drug commonly known as shabu, during a buy-bust operation by the Valenzuela City police on March 31.

Fifteen plastic sachets of shabu were among those retrieved by the police from the Mitsubishi L300 van used by the suspect Gregorio Garcia, 34, a Valenzuela City resident. Garcia was arrested while selling the illegal drugs to a police asset posing as buyer along Angeles Street, Barangay Malinta.

Other items in the van include a .45 caliber pistol with magazine, seven bullets, cash worth Php1,800, and other drug paraphernalia. The police also recovered from Garcia the Php5,000 marked money.

Police Chief Inspector Allan Ruba, Station Anti-Illegal Drugs chief, said Garcia had been supplying illegal drugs to clients in at least three barangays, Malinta, Rincon, and Karuhatan.

Since the arrest, Garcia has been detained at the city jail. The pieces of confiscated evidence, on the other hand, have been handed over by the city police to the Philippine National Police Crime Laboratory.