Manila, June 23 -- Authorities arrested a drug peddler and seized PHP13.6 million worth of methamphetamine hydrochloride or "shabu" in Marawi City, a regional official of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said Monday.

PDEA-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) Director Gil Cesario Castro identified the arrested suspect as "Alias Orak," 21, an alleged drug peddler from Molundo, Lanao del Sur. He was immediately apprehended during the handover of illegal narcotics between him and a PDEA undercover agent in Barangay Bangolo Poblacion, Marawi City, on Sunday afternoon.

"We had been tailing him for several days before his arrest," Castro said of the suspect, who is believed to be a member of a big-time drug syn...