IT might take a while before relatives of self-confessed drug lord Franz Sabalones could claim his body from a funeral parlor in Quezon City.

The Quezon City Police Department (QCPD) said it cannot release the body of Sabalones unless those interested to claim it agree to take a DNA test.

Police Brigadier Gen. Debold Sinas, the Police Regional Office 7 director, said the QCPD imposed such requirement because its officials are not 100 percent sure the person who was gunned down in Barangay South Triangle, Quezon City on Maundy Thursday was Sabalones.

Unless his identity is proven through finger printing and DNA testing, the body cannot be released to persons claiming as relatives, Sinas said

But Sinas said they believe the man killed was Sabalones after his former cohort who was arrested by the police positively identified him.

Sinas said police have been searching for Sabalones’ kin in Cebu, including his brother, San Fernando Vice Mayor Fralz Sabalones, to no avail.

His live-in partner, Wenefreda Misa, has not been seen at their home in Minglanilla.

The PRO 7 chief sent personnel of the crime laboratory to Manila to get a swab sample from Sabalones’ body, which is still at the funeral parlor in Quezon City even though a relative had claimed his body.

The funeral parlor’s management asked for a special power of attorney from Jerome Cabilao before releasing the body of Sabalones to him.

“Ayaw po lumutang yung family dito sa Manila. Sabi kasi ng funeral parlor ang puwede lang mag-claim ang parents or brother or sister. Dahil buhay pa yung mother, siya lang ang pwede,” Police Major Elmer Monsalve, the Quezon City Police District-Criminal Investigation Detective Unit chief, said.

Meanwhile, Sinas believes the death of Sabalones will affect the illegal drug trade in Central Visayas.

After he was released from Camp Crame, Sabalones reportedly returned to his illegal business with his underlings.

He warned, though, that the drug trafficking activities of Sabalones’ men would continue when they find new leaders.

Sinas said Sabalones’ deputies might replace the San Fernando native, who surrendered to then police director general Ronald dela Rosa in 2016. (From AYB & FMD of SuperBalita Cebu, KAL, JKV)