A SUSPECTED big-time drug trader was arrested in an early morning raid in Sitio Matab-ang, Barangay Day-as, Cordova town yesterday.

Estanislao “Ontong” Yap Jr., 45, yielded 102 small packs of what appeared to be shabu, worth over P150,000, drug paraphernalia like tooters and tinfoil, and several empty plastic packs.

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Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) 7 spokesman Jessie Tabanao said that Yap is a level two drug pusher, or that he could allegedly dispose of 200 grams of shabu per week.

Tabanao said they just learned that Yap is the reported leader of the six-member Yap drug group in Cordova.

Yap allegedly gets his supply, which he distributes in Cordova and a few barangays in the cities of Lapu-Lapu and Danao, from an illegal drug merchant in Mindanao.

Yap was caught by surprise when a joint team of the PDEA 7, headed by Director Randy Pedroso, and the Philippine Navy’s Special Warfare Action Group barged into his house around 5:45 a.m.

The raiding team was armed with a search warrant issued last Friday by Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 10 Judge Soliver Peras in Cebu City.

Tabanao said Yap was watching a show on his DVD player when authorities came.

It was the second time that lawmen raided Yap’s house.

He managed to flee during the first raid, launched by a Cebu City-based special police unit.

Tabanao said Yap gained the affection of his neighbors by playing Robin Hood. He would reportedly buy at least 10 to 15 sacks of rice each month and distribute these to them.