Friday, March 28, 2008 Checkpoint leads police to stash
A POLICE checkpoint in the North Reclamation Area proved effective when the authorities stopped two men on a motorcycle for possession of what appeared to be shabu.
Margarito Guibone Debalucos, 26, of Tambo Gerona, Iligan City, and Giovanni Dayagdag Balucan, 36, of Mahayahay, Iligan City, were arrested for possession of seven medium packs of the prohibited drug.
Debalucos temporarily lives on Bonifacio St., Cebu City, while Balucan said he was staying with a relative in Sambag I. Both, however, denied they owned the drugs when Cebu City Police Office Director Patrocinio Comendador presented them to the media.
Police arrested the two at the corner of Gen. Maxilom Ave. and Gaisano St. past 11 a.m. yesterday. A team of Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Bureau (CIIB) operatives chased the two after they tried to bolt from a checkpoint.
“I initially believed they were armed,” said SPO1 Gerard Cue, the team leader. The suspects were stopped for failing to wear helmets.
Comendador said their arrest showed how effective a checkpoint can be in crime prevention.
In an interview with reporters, Debalucos admitted the packs of shabu were found in the pocket of his fatigue cargo pants but said these didn’t belong to him.
He said he arrived in Cebu from Iligan at 7 a.m. yesterday and went straight to his boarding house on Bonifacio St. to take a nap. Before getting in bed, he took off his cargo pants and left it on a hook inside his room.
Balucan, who drove the motorcycle, said that Debalucos had asked to be picked up at Fuente Osmeña.
From Fuente Osmeña, Balucan brought Debalucos to a mall to buy a boat ticket for Iligan City.
Balucan said they did not evade the checkpoint but hesitated initially because the motorcycle, newly bought by his brother, has no conduction sticker.
Charges of possession of shabu will be filed against the two. (JST)
