Alleged supplier of party drugs killed in shootout with PDEA agents

March 12, 2019

An alleged big supplier of party drugs in Metro Manila was killed in a shootout with agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) on Monday.

Steve Pasion was about to be arrested when he reportedy grabbed the gun of a PDEA agent, which prompted other officers to shoot him.

Director Levi Ortiz, head of the PDEA's Special Enforcement Service (SES), said the buy-bust operation happened at the parking area of the Amaia Skies condominium building in Barangay 310, Sta. Cruz around 10:45 p.m.

“He was really determined to fight our operatives,” he said in a press conference Tuesday.

The suspect's girlfriend,  part-time model Irene Mercado, was also arrested.

Ortiz said 23 capsules of the party drug ecstasy  worth P30,000 and 50 grams of shabu with an estimated street value of P340,000 were seized from Pasion

A search of Pasion's condominium unit around 2:30 am led to finding a kilo of shabu worth P6 million, three bottles of liquid ecstasy worth P75,000 and assorted drug paraphernalia.

Ortiz said Pasion bought his drugs from Europe which are smuggled into the country, earning about P1 million weekly.

Ortiz said the suspect has been under surveillance for several years because of his activities.

Among his clients are two celebrities, a man and a woman, who are now subjects of an investigation, PDEA said.

Ortiz did not reveal the celebrities whose names were in Pasion's cellphone as regular  clients.  There was an instance where the two  bought about 200 ecstasy tablets. DMS