Thursday, July 13, 2006
2 Cebu cops caught selling shabu
By Jovy S. Taghoy
CEBU CITY -- The two policemen who were arrested in a buy-bust are pointing at each other as the one engaged in the illegal drug trade.
Police Officer 1 John Rey M. Catiri, 34, said he was only asked to deliver packs of shabu to a client and identified Police Officer 1 Aldwin N. Vicada and a cohort as the ones who supplied him with the drugs.
Vicada, 31, the designated jailer of the San Nicolas Police Station, however, denied any involvement in the illegal drug trade.
He accused Catiri of using his cellular phone in carrying out illicit transactions.
Catiri, who has gone absent without leave (Awol) since 2001, and Vicada were arrested last Tuesday during a buy-bust by the Vice Control Section (VCS) of the Cebu City Police Office.
Catiri told reporters Wednesday he is still active in the service because the Police Regional Office 7 has not yet issued a dismissal order against him.
He said he was assigned at the headquarters of the Regional Mobile Group in Sibonga, Cebu before he decided not to report for work because of family problems.
Senior Insp. George Ylanan, VCS chief, in a press conference Wednesday said they were not aware they were transacting with policemen until Catiri and Vicada were arrested.
Catiri was caught at 5:50 p.m. after allegedly handing over at least 50 grams of shabu placed in one big transparent plastic pack to PO3 Vilma Abayan, who posed as a buyer, inside a taxicab parked near a fastfood chain in Barangay Mambaling, Cebu City.
Vicada was arrested two hours later in his house in Barangay Basak, Cebu City in a follow-up operation by a joint team of VCS and the San Nicolas Police Station.
Drug peddling charges were filed yesterday against the two police officers.
Cebu City Police Director Melvin Gayotin, who presented the two policemen to the media yesterday afternoon, said the arrest will serve as a warning to the other policemen who are engaged in illegal activities "that there is no place for them in the police organization."
Gayotin confiscated Vicada's badge, his .38 service revolver and his PNP identification card.
Ylanan said the transaction started last Monday via a text message sent to a cellular phone number, later found to be owned by Vicada.
At 2 p.m. the next day, PO2 Stanley Aldemita, who pretended to buy the illegal drugs, closed a deal with the suspected drug pusher.
According to the agreement, Aldemita and the drug pusher were to meet at three hours later at a parking lot of a fastfood restaurant in Mambaling.
The drug pusher was to deliver 50 grams of shabu at the agreed price of P28,000 per five grams, which is P12,000 less than going rate, Ylanan said.
At 5:50 p.m., Catiri, Vicada and another man who was only identified as Edmar arrived at the parking lot.
Catiri hopped inside the taxicab while Vicada and Edmar stayed outside.
As soon as the transaction was carried out, Abayan and the other operative who served as a driver arrested Catiri.
Vicada and Edmar, who noticed the commotion inside the cab, fled before the backup team arrived in the area.
Since some of the VCS operatives know Vicada, they coordinated with San Nicolas Police Station Chief Mariano Batiancela in arresting Vicada.
At past 7 p.m., Vicada was caught in his house.
Seized from Vicada was the cellular phone allegedly used in the transaction.
The Office of the Cebu City Prosecutor took custody of the police's evidence against Catiri and Vicada-two cellular phones whose memory cards contain messages sent to the undercover "buyer," wads of bill-sized paper bundled in between two P100 bills used as the buy-bust money and the joint affidavit of the police officers.
Assistant City Prosecutor Ernesto Narido Jr. gave Catiri and Vicada 10 days to submit a counter-affidavit.
Their failure to file one within the given period means they waived their right to refute the charges and force the prosecutor to rule on the complaint based only on the police's evidence.
Apart from the criminal case, the two policemen will also be charged administratively. If found guilty, they may be dismissed from service.
During the presentation, Catiri, who admitted to be a drug user, pointed to Vicada and Edmar as the suppliers.
He said Vicada called him up and asked him to deliver the shabu to a client.
"I agreed because I was hoping to get a commission," Catiri said, adding that it was his first time to deliver shabu.
Vicada, who was with Catiri in the presentation, declined to make any comments.
In an interview with Vicada earlier at the stockade, he denied selling or supplying shabu.
He said he entrusted his cellular phone to Catiri for repair and only to find out that it was used in the illegal drug transaction.
"I was in my house. I do not know anything about that," Vicada said.
Vicada said Catiri returned his cellular phone last Tuesday, hours before the arrest.
Vicada said he came to know Catiri because they were batchmates in the 1997 recruitment. (Sun.Star Cebu)
(July 13, 2006 issue)
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