Church youth leader caught

FRIENDS of Jerome Fat Sosmeña know him as the leader of a youth group devoted to spreading Christian teachings.

Buotan gyod na siya. Sa simbahan gyod na siya pirme (He is a good guy. He spends most of his time in church),” Cheryl Traya said of her friend, who is also a member of a reggae band. “Iyang kuwarta adto sa simbahan (He often donates his money to church).”

That’s why Traya was surprised when the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) 7 arrested Sosmeña outside a mall in Cebu City for allegedly selling a kilo of white crystals believed to be shabu worth P4 million.

Had these drugs been sold in the streets, the dealer would have made P15-P20 million, according estimates by the Dangerous Drugs Board.

Before his arrest at 8 p.m. last Thursday, the 31-year-old Sosmeña played the keyboards during every praise and worship session in a Catholic church in Mabolo, Cebu City.

Traya said that her friend also reached out to teenagers from different schools like the Cebu City Central School, Abellana National High School and Barrio Luz High School.

Sosmeña also helped his friends who were trapped in financial troubles.

But the PDEA had another story to tell about Osmeña.

PDEA 7 Director Yogi Filemon Ruiz said that Sosmeña became the supplier of the underlings of Jeffrey “Jaguar” Diaz, after the alleged drug lord died in a shootout with the police in Las Piñas City last June.

He described the suspect as a level two drug pusher included on the list of high-value targets.

Sosmeña had reportedly replaced Diaz. His other cohorts, reportedly minors, eluded arrest.

When asked about his alleged connections with Diaz, the suspect denied he was part of the group. He hid his face with his long bleached hair and a white shirt.

Kaila ko niya, pero dili ako ang nipuli ni Jaguar (I know him, but I did not replace Jaguar),” said Sosmeña.

The suspect allegedly sourced his supply from someone in the National Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City.

The penitentiary sits at the center of a recently concluded House of Representatives’ justice committee hearing on the alleged illegal drug trade inside the facility, involving high-profile inmates.

Sosmeña’s area of distribution allegedly included Cebu City and the province. He transacted with his customers using Viber, a mobile app, and often met them inside malls.

“He did not transact right away with us. He instructed us to take a picture of the money,” said Ruiz in Cebuano. “He thought he was secure in the malls.”

PDEA undercover agents sent a picture of P1,000 bills to the suspect, whom they eventually convinced to deal with them.

The transaction was supposed to happen in the pier area, but the suspect changed his mind and instructed the agents to meet him in a mall in the North Reclamation Area. This did not push through, and the drug deal took place in the vicinity of another mall in a financial district.

Ruiz said they coordinated with the security of the mall before the buy-bust.

PDEA 7 learned of Sosmeña’s alleged illegal activities, after several suspected drug pushers its agents had caught named the suspect as their supplier.

The agents also confiscated money transfer receipts. Ruiz said the names reflected in the receipts are subjects in the investigation, adding these are the possible suppliers.

Abandoned

At 9:30 p.m., the PDEA K9 caught Gilbert Jatico allegedly sniffing shabu in an abandoned building of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) in Lapu-Lapu City. The suspect is a security guard of MCIA.

The PDEA K9 Unit personnel confiscated drug paraphernalia, three open sachets with traces of what could be shabu and a sachet of suspected shabu.

Before the arrest, the operatives were conducting a buy-bust against a man nicknamed Kokoy when they chanced upon Jatico and his companion, Gary Jeade Sollano, allegedly using drugs.

Sollano and Kokoy escaped.

Complaints for violating Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, will be filed against the suspects. Selling dangerous drugs is a non-bailable offense.

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