POLICE seized P61.37 million worth of illegal drugs in separate anti-narcotics operations that resulted in the death of one suspect and the arrest of three others on Sunday, Sept. 20, 2020.
At 7:45 a.m., operatives of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) seized seven kilos of suspected shabu worth P47.6 million from three suspects in Sitio Tipolo Bridge, Barangay Guadalupe.
The suspects, identified as brothers Rolando and Edward Ondoy Romeo, 32 and 24, respectively, and Calvin Hermoso Valdez, 42, are residents of Don Andres Abellana Extension.
Police believed they are members of a drug group operating in the city and Cebu Province.
Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 Director Albert Ignatius Ferro said their supplier is a syndicate based in a Southeast Asian country.
The suspects were placed on surveillance for two months. When their illegal activities were confirmed, the CCPO, along with members of the City Intelligence Unit (CIU) and the Regional Intelligence Division 7, carried out the operation.
Maj. Randy Caballes, CIU chief, said the contraband came from San Carlos City in Negros Occidental. It was smuggled through a ship, which docked at a Toledo City pier. He said the drugs were picked up by Rolando.
The package that contained the illegal drugs was reportedly under the name of a certain Rustico Repuela Ygot, who is serving his sentence in a penal farm at the Zamboanga Peninsula in Mindanao.
Ygot, also known as Dikoy, was arrested by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency 7 on May 18, 2010. He was convicted on July 25, 2013.
Local police believed Ygot owned the seized illegal drugs.
According to Ferro, the illegal drugs came from abroad based on the packaging — seven large packs wrapped in tea bags that had Chinese characters.
He said the drugs were supplied by the “Golden Triangle,” a syndicate based in Myanmar. However, Ferro didn’t present any proof.
Ferro said Cebu has multiple entry points, which make it easier for drug traffickers to sneak in illegal drugs.
The other seized evidence were the marked bills used in transacting with the suspects and a vehicle owned by a nurse working at a government hospital in Cebu City.
Rolando told police they had sold illegal drugs twice before their arrest. Their first transaction took place in April when the entire island of Cebu was under enhanced community quarantine.
Rolando’s group reportedly sold nine kilos of shabu in the provinces of Cebu and Bohol.
Rolando, in a brief chat with Mayor Edgardo Labella, said they did not know the real owner of the contraband since it was delivered to them by a middleman, who contacted him through his cell phone. Rolando said he did not know how the person got his contact details.
Labella said the volume of drugs seized alarmed him, adding that many minds would have been wasted had the shabu been sold on the streets.
The mayor said he will award the police for their latest successful anti-narcotics operation.
Earlier at 12:20 a.m., operatives of the Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit and the Regional Drug Enforcement Group 7 killed 26-year-old Joemarie Yongco, a resident of Barangay Rizal, San Carlos City, Negros Occidental.
More than two kilos of shabu worth P13.77 million were seized from the suspect, who was included in the high-value target list of Sibulan, Negros Oriental police. (AYB, BBT & GPL / KAL)