CEBU (Updated) -- The Court of Appeals (CA) has released an order freezing all the assets, amounting to P76 million, of suspected Central Visayas drug lord Franz Sabalones.
The order, which is valid for six months, was issued on January 19, 2017 by the CA 8th Division. It was the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA)-Central Visayas that requested for its issuance through the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC).
PDEA-Central Visayas Director Yogi Felimon Ruiz said they tracked Sabalones' assets for six months after he surrendered in August last year.
Sabalones, brother of San Fernando, Cebu Vice Mayor Fralz Sabalones, surrendered to Philippine National Police Chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa last year after President Rodrigo Duterte named his brother as a drug protector. He confessed that he is a drug lord operating in Central Visayas and tagged several policemen as his protectors.
Ruiz said Sabalones owns several properties, including six lots, in Cebu province.
Sabalones also owns the Paulo Luna Beach Resort located in Sitio Kalubihan, North Poblaion, San Fernando, Cebu.
Covered by the CA freeze order were Sabalones' three bank accounts (one BDO and two Wealth Bank accounts) and six real properties. Four of the properties are in San Fernando, Cebu; one in Barangay Guadalupe Ceb City; and one in Barangay Poblacion III in Carcar City.
Ruiz said the freeze order was issued because they were able to prove that Sabalones' properties were all acquired through his illegal drug business.
"We were able to prove that it was derived from his involvement in illegal drugs...Under the law, proceeds of the crime (illegal drugs) can be forfeited in favor of the government," said Ruiz.
The CA resolution stated that the court found probable cause that the subject bank accounts and properties are "related to an unlawful activity or money laundering as defined under Republic Act 9160," or the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) of 2001.
Section 4 of the AMLA states that "money laundering is a crime whereby the proceeds of an unlawful activity as defined in the law are transacted, thereby making them appear to have originated from legitimate sources."
Ruiz said the issuance of the freeze order will affect Sabalones' capability to conduct future businesses.
The order allows the AMLC to prevent Sabalones' bank accounts and properties from being "withdrawn, transferred, disposed of, or otherwise placed beyond the reach of law enforcers."
Ruiz also said Tuesday that PDEA's attention is now focused not only on confiscating illegal drugs, but also on confiscating the drug lords' assets, "para dili na sila makapadayon sa ilang mga negosyo (so they could not continue their illegal businesses)."
Ruiz said aside from Sabalones, PDEA has a lot of target personalities in its list.
"Ongoing pa ang investigation sa uban, and ato na pud i-request nga ipa-freeze gihapon ilang assets (We will also request for a freeze order)," he said.
The police considered Sabalones as at the same level as Jaguar Diaz, the top most wanted drug lord in Central Visayas who was killed in a police operation in Las Piñas City in June 2016.
Based on his August 8, 2016 judicial affidavit, Sabalones started selling illegal drugs after he lost his job as a Cebu City traffic enforcer in 2003. From then on, he evolved from being a small-scale trafficker into one of the largest drug distributors in Central Visayas. (LMY/With JOB/KAL/SunStar Philippines)