BANGUED, Abra September 21 – The reported uncle of the congresswoman of the province and alleged brother-in-law of the municipal mayor of this capital town was arrested by combined police and anti-narcotics agents after having found in his possession illegal drugs and assorted illegal drug paraphernalia during a recent buy bust operation at sitio Linasen, Zone 1 here over the weekend.
Juvenal Azurin, regional director of the Cordillera office of the Philippine Drug Agency (PDEA-CAR) identified the arrested prominent drug personality and businessman as Francisco Briones Acosta alias Boting, 48, businessman and a resident of Barangay Zone 1, Linasen, Bangued, Abra.
Acosta was immediately collared by the operating troops after he sold a sachet of suspected shabu to PDEA operative during the sting operation.
Reliable sources revealed Acosta is the uncle of Rep. Maria Jocelyn Valera Bernos and the brother-in-law of Bangued Mayor Dominique Valera, who is the latter’s father.
Aside from the illegal substance, the suspect yielded a roll of aluminum foil and the buy-bust money used during the operation. He is now temporarily detained at the Bangued Municipal Police Station pending the filing of cases for violation of the pertinent provisions of Republic Act No. 9165 otherwise known as the “Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.”
Azurin emphasized that PDEA-CAR together with the PNP will step-up its relentless campaign against illegal drugs in Abra in order to address the number of drug affected barangays in the province and spare the innocent individuals from being induced to the illegal drug trade despite its serious negative effects to the lives of the users among others.
It was learned that the shabu supply in the province is coming from the coastal areas of the Ilocos region considering its proximity to the said areas but law enforcers are now doing their best to curb the proliferation of illegal drugs provincewide in order to make the province drug free in the future.