ABOUT P340,000 worth of methamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu) was seized from a Filipino-Japanese high-value drug personality in a drug bust in Barangay Casuntingan, Mandaue City on Saturday, September 3.
Authorities identified the suspect as Spencer Inso “Leslie” Takemura, 33, of Sitio Marites, Barangay Lorega, Cebu City.
Lieutenant Colonel Franco Rudolf Oriol, deputy director for operations and spokesperson of the Mandaue City Police Office (MCPO), told SunStar Cebu Tuesday, September 6, 2022, that the operation was made after a concerned citizen reported to the police about Takemura's illegal drug activity.
Oriol said the MCPO had put the suspect into two-week surveillance before he was arrested in Sitio Pilapil, Casuntingan around 6 p.m. Saturday.
The MCPO also coordinated with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) for the operation.
Oriol said Takemura is capable of disposing of 500 grams of shabu per week and is one of MCPO's high-value targets for drugs at the city level.
He said the suspect's primary source of income was selling drugs, where he transacts in the cities of Cebu, Mandaue, and Danao.
Oriol added that this was not the first time Takemura was nabbed by police.
Takemura was released from the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa, Metro Manila in 2019 after serving a sentence of 10 years in prison. He was re-arrested in Liloan in October 2019 but was released in June 2022.
Oriol, however, could not yet identify if these cases were also drug-related.
The suspect is currently detained at the MCPO Custodial Facility. He will face charges for violating Article 2, Sections 5 and 11 of the Republic Act 9165, otherwise known as the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002. (HIC)