Wednesday, July 13, 2005
2 more 'major drug pushers' fall
By Adrian Sedillo and Neil C. Rio
TWO more in the list of top ten alleged 'major drug pushers fell to the anti-drug Task Force 24 in separate operations Wednesday and Thursday in Barangay Looc, a hot bed in narcotics trafficking in Dumaguete City.
The separate arrests came less than a week after the task force arrested Samuel Bunagan, Jr. alias Judas, a known drug pusher in the area and Renelon Liu, 27, brother of wanted alleged drug trafficker Dandan Liu.
The police identified the latest to be arrested as Raul Amaro, alias Lalaks, 35, married of Zone 3 on Wednesday and Maximo Gabatan, Jr., 34, married of Gabatan Compound, in Zone V, Looc on Thursday.
Arrested with Amaro were his brothers Pablo Jr., 39, and Romulo, 18, both single, their neighbor Johnlee Teves, and Richard Lirasan, 27, single of Barangay Nagbalaye, in Santa Catalina.
The arresting team was composed of Inspector Teddy Faburada of the city police, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Chief Dominador Cimafranca, and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) officer Senior Police Officer 1 Manuel Sanchez who were armed with a search warrant dated June 30 and issued by Executive Judge Victor Patrimonio of the Regional Trial Court.
Before serving the warrant, the team conducted a successful buy bust. The raid yielded five plastic sachets containing the residue of what is believed to be shabu, drug paraphernalia, the two P200-marked bills used in the test buy and P2,040 believed to be cash sales from the illegal drug.
Lalaks initially admitted on interrogation that the confiscated money were drug sale proceeds and pointed to an individual in Cebu whom he did not name as his supplier.
But during a follow-up investigation, the suspect recanted his statements insisting he was not involved in any illegal drug activity.
Details on the arrest of Amaro's two brothers who live in another house a wall apart, Teves, who inside their house and was found to possess three sachets of granules believed to be shabu, and Lirazan who was allegedly caught sniffing shabu in the same house, are unclear.
Lirasan, on interrogation, admitted sniffing the banned drug in the house of Lalaks' brothers but that he bought it from outside.
From Pablo's house, the team recovered eight plastic packs containing what is believed to be shabu and other drug paraphernalia.
Gabatan was arrested a few minutes after seven the next morning through a search warrant dated July 5 also issued by Judge Patrimonio.
The task force confiscated two transparent plastic sachets containing granules believed to be shabu, shabu paraphernalia, and P3,560 believed to be sales from drugs.
A case for violating Section 11 Article II of Republic Act Number 9165, the anti-drugs law, has been filed against Gabatan before Fiscal Adrian Borromeo of the City Prosecutor's Office after an inquest.
The arrested suspects are detained at the Dumaguete police detention center.
(July 10, 2005 issue)
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