AN alleged cohort of self-confessed drug lord Franz Sabalones who was arrested in Argao town last Saturday, Dec. 29, revealed that he had connections with some police officials and politicians in Cebu.
But Senior Supt. Manuel Abrugena, Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) director, refused to disclose the names given to them by suspected drug pusher Tocelio Dibalucos Ababon until they could verify the information.
Ababon was arrested in a buy-bust conducted by the CPPO’s Drug Enforcement Unit in his house in Sitio Bilibid, Barangay Casay.
Confiscated from Ababon were seven big packs of suspected shabu weighing around 1.5 kilograms and with an estimated market value of P10.2 million and P15,000 in cash.
Ababon, identified by Batobalonos as a “high-profile drug target,” originally hailed from Barangay Tabunok, Talisay City. He fled to Argao due to the continuous anti-illegal drug operations conducted by police there.
He reportedly sold illegal drugs by the kilo every week and refused to sell less than 200 grams of drugs.
Ababon reportedly accompanied Sabalones to Camp Crame to surrender to high-ranking police officials after the latter was included on the list of big-time drug lords in the country.
When Ababon returned to Cebu, he left his base of operations in Tabunok and transferred to Argao where he acquired a house and a property. He started raising and selling hogs as a cover for his illegal drug operations.
But when Batobalonos checked Ababon’s piggeries behind his house, there were no pigs.
Cebu’s “narcopoliticians”
During interrogation, Ababon gave investigators the names of police officials in the region and some local personalities whom he identified as his connections in his illegal drug operations.
“We are still validating the information. However, we cannot yet divulge their names because we are conducting followup operations and at the same time we don’t want to alert them,” Abrugena said in Tagalog.
Meanwhile, 77 high-ranking officials, including mayors and congressmen, from Cebu are allegedly involved in illegal drugs, said Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año.
Año said majority of them are running in next year’s midterm elections.
Abrugena said he already has the list but they are validating it and building a case against the officials.
“However, we cannot disclose these names until there is strong evidence against these personalities,” Abrugena said in Cebuano.
He said they will coordinate with the DILG, the Police Regional Office 7 and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency 7 in monitoring these “narcopoliticians.”
“We are focusing on how to eradicate their supply of firearms and illegal drugs because these are often used by unscrupulous politicians during their candidacy,” Abrugena said. From AYB of Superbalita Cebu / JKV