SIX kilos of “shabu” worth P40.8 million was seized after the arrest of five persons in separate drug busts in Tagbilaran City, Bohol on Monday afternoon, May 25, 2020.

The anti-narcotics operations showed that illegal activities continue amid the novel coronavirus disease crisis.

Police Regional Office 7 Director P/Brig. Gen. Albert Ignatius Ferro said investigators will find out how drug personalities transport illegal drugs as Bohol is still under general community quarantine, which imposes limited public transport.

During the first operation, operatives caught Lelit Sinugbojan, 44; Chellomae Pescura Curayag, 34; Junalyn Abelgas Matora, 33; and Humprey Millana Cenabe, 33.

All suspects are from Bohol except Sinugbojan, who hails from Lapu-Lapu City.

They were caught at 5:45 p.m. Monday in Sitio Antipolo, Barangay Dampas, Tagbilaran City. Two kilos of “shabu” worth P13.6 million were seized from them.

An hour later, Jaime Auxtero Dajao, 44, was arrested in Purok 2, Barangay Tanghalagi, Talibon. He yielded four kilos of “shabu” worth of P27.2 million.

A monthlong surveillance had been conducted on the suspects before the drug busts were carried out of the Regional Drug Enforcement Unit 7, Bohol Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit, Provincial Intelligence Branch, Tagbilaran City Police Station and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) 7.

Ferro said the suspects had been tagged as “high-value targets” before their arrest. He believed the suspects worked for a drug triad as the illegal drugs were wrapped in a tea bag. Similar wrappers were used by pushers who were caught in Cebu City and Metro Manila.

In Danao City, northern Cebu, authorities uprooted 7,500 marijuana plants worth P3 million from a plantation on Monday morning, May 25, 2020.

Suspected marijuana farmers Ariel de Leon Lawas, 23 and Jeaven de Leon Lawas, 20, were arrested in the mountain village of Langosig. The suspects are brothers.

The operation was conducted by the personnel of the Danao City Police Station Provincial Intelligence Branch, Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit and the PDEA 7.

Before the marijuana plantation was discovered, the Danao City Police Station had received an information about its presence in Langosig. A subsequent surveillance confirmed the report from the informant.

Cebu Police Provincial Office Director P/Col. Roderick Mariano said they still continue to monitor any presence of marijuana plantations even if they are busy implementing the general community quarantine protocol in Cebu Province.

The suspects will face complaints for violating Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002). (AYB, MMC)