MANILA, Philippines - Three people were arrested when agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) busted a drug den in General Santos City this week, PDEA said on Saturday.

PDEA Director-General Undersecretary Jose Guiterrez Jr. said they shut down a private residence in Purok Islam that was doubling as a drug-peddling facility during an entrapment operation last Tuesday, Jan. 31.

Caught in the act of selling a sachet of shabu was house owner Ding Mustapha. Further search of his place yielded another sachet of shabu and various drug paraphernalia.

Meanwhile, two tricycle drivers, Mark Carlito and Isidro Cabute Jr., who were in the premises of the den when the buy-bust operation was conducted, were also arrested.

"Their mere presence in the place considered a drug den is already punishable by law," Gutierrez noted.

The suspects are now temporarily detained at the PDEA Regional Office 12 jail facility in Camp Lira, General Santos.