A VILLAGE official, tagged by President Rodrigo Duterte as a narco-politician, was caught in a drug bust in Barangay Tuburan Sur, Danao City, Cebu, on Wednesday night, August 30.
Tuburan Sur Barangay Councilor Thelma Sekiguchi, 40, yielded 49 packs of white crystals believed to methamphetamine hydrochloride, locally known as "shabu," to the Danao City Police Station and intelligence operatives. Sekiguchi was believed to be linked to linked to drug lord Alvaro "Barok" Alvaro who is now detained at Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center.
The contraband weighed 52.07 grams worth P614,426, a Dangerous Drugs Board value.
“She had several networks because of her position as a barangay official,” he said.
Sekiguchi, whose name surfaced in 2014, surrendered to Danao City Police Station in Oplan Tokhang last year with a promise she would abandon drug trafficking.
But surveillance in the past months proved she lied to the police. She let the users sniff shabu inside her house, turning it into a drug den.
Danao City Police Chief Gerard Ace Pelare said Sekiguchi had been listed as a high value target and included in Duterte's narco-list. She could dispose of 200 grams of shabu per week in the city and neighboring municipalities, including Compostela and Carmen.
At 8:50 p.m., police arrested Sekiguchi in a drug bust and confiscated 21 small sachets of "shabu."
At 9:15 p.m., the operatives implemented the search warrant issued by Danao City Regional Regional Trial Court Branch 25 Judge Jerry Dicdican.
During the search in her residence, operatives found 10 medium packs of "shabu," 18 small packs of shabu, two empty plastic packs, two transparent packs containing several empty packs, and a digital weighing scale.
Sekiguchi, who denied the allegations, will face complaints for violating the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, which prohibits the sale and possession of shabu.
She accused the operatives of planting the evidence on her. (KAL)