ANTI-DRUGS poster boy Police Lieutenant Colonel Jovie Espenido has linked self-confessed Visayan drug lord Kerwin Espinosa to the recent drug busts that netted billions of pesos worth of methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu.
Espenido said persons who worked for Espinosa were among those either killed or arrested in the series of anti-drug operations conducted by anti-narcotics operatives of the Philippine National Police (PNP).
“Naglalaro pa sya, naglalaro pa si Kerwin (He’s still active in the illegal drug trade),” Espenido said a telephone interview.
Espinosa, son of slain Albuera town mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr., is under the custody of the National Bureau of Investigation with full coverage of the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Witness Protection Program (WPP).
Espenido said Espinosa is more powerful now as he has been able to continue with his illegal drug operations while in detention.
“Powerful na e, mas grabe ka powerful kung i-compare mo sa una, mas powerful sya ngayon kasi naka-detain na tapos nakakapaglaro pa,” he said.
Espenido cited Ryan Labandaria of Leyte who was killed along with Ervyn Querubin of Cebu in a shootout following a drug bust in Taguig City, Metro Manila on May 22. Police seized shabu worth P81.6 million in that operation.
Read: 2 Visayas drug suspects killed: P80-M shabu recovered
Espenido also said siblings Angelica and Maria Lyn Tulio, who were arrested in a shabu warehouse in Marilao, Bulacan on June 4, worked for Espinosa in Albuera town in Leyte. More than P5.6 billion worth of shabu, or 827 kilograms, were recovered.
Angelica is allegedly the partner of Yuwen Cai, caretaker of the shabu warehouse in Bulacan. Cai was also arrested.
Cai’s son, Jin Long Cai, was one of two drug suspects killed in a shootout following a drug bust in Parañaque City in Metro Manila on June 6.
Also killed was Danny Apiga, who had also worked for Espinosa, according to Espenido. Recovered from Apiga and the younger Cai were 36 kilograms of shabu worth P244.8 million.
Read: Father, son among suspects in P5-billion drug haul
“Mga tauhan lahat ni Kerwin yan galing yan sa Albuera. Courier yan, courier, mga kinuha sila,” he said.
(They all worked for Kerwin Espinosa back in Albuera. They were couriers.)
“Actually Pampanga, Bulacan, Cavite, Pasay at Taguig ang area nila... Ang mga tao dito sa Albuera ay dinala ni Kerwin lahat do’n sa Luzon,” he added.
(They cover Pampanga, Bulacan, Cavite, Pasay at Taguig. Kerwin brought his people in Albuera to Luzon.)
PNP Drug Enforcement Group Director Romeo Caramat Jr. confirmed having received information about Espinosa’s involvement but said this was still being validated.
“Meron kaming unvalidated info pero vini-verify pa namin to be sure,” he said.
Espenido was the police chief of Albuera in November 2016, when Criminal Investigation and Detection Group agents shot and killed then mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr. inside his detention cell.
He had been on President Rodrigo Duterte’s list of narco-politicians.
The former mayor had surrendered to the PNP after he was named by Duterte. He had admitted Kerwin’s involvement in illegal drugs.
Six hired men of the Espinosas were killed in the raid on the Espinosa residence while illegal drugs and several firearms of various caliber were seized.
Kerwin was granted full coverage of the WPP in 2017, following his testimony implicating former Justice secretary and Senator Leila de Lima as one of his protectors.
De Lima, a vocal critic of Duterte, is being detained at the PNP Custodial Center in Camp Crame. (SunStar Philippines)