A CRIMINAL group involved in drug peddling, holdups and robberies in Metro Cebu fell in a police operation in Barangay Catarman, Liloan town last Saturday.
An alleged big-time drug pusher, a son of a former police officer, and four of his cohorts were arrested in a buy-bust conducted by intelligence and anti-drug operatives of Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO).
They were identified as Amerphil Jayme, 35; Christian Ceniza, 28; Edgardo Cetas, 38; Donel Navales, 33; Joselito Yutrago, 37; and Fernando Aton, 35.
Seized from them were a large pack, two medium packs and 37 small packs of shabu worth P200,000.
A shotgun, a KG-9, two Ingrams, two .45 pistols, a 9mm and a .38 revolver were also recovered from the group.
Senior Supt. Noel Gillamac, CPPO director, said the operatives also found a ledger that showed aliases of drug pushers.
One of the names in the list is Ting, who remitted P680,000.
“Makita nato nga ang drug problem dako na kaayo (We can see the problem getting worse),” he said in a press briefing.
Check
Gillamac said they will also check if there are no government officials and police officers in the ledger.
The Provincial Intelligence Branch (PIB) and Provincial Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Group (Paidsotg), led by Senior Insp. Leo Logronio, conducted a surveillance against the group for a month before organizing the raid.
On Saturday at 12:10 p.m., a poseur buyer bought a medium pack of shabu worth P5,000 from Jayme, who was the subject of the operation.
Decoy
When Jayme handed over the item to him, the decoy gave the signal and the operatives charged on Jayme and other suspects who were inside his house.
The operatives also found a digital weighing scale, an improvised sealer, an electrical sealer and plastic used for repacking.
In an interview with reporters, Jayme denied owning the drugs and firearms.
“Wala gyud ko kalibutan ana (I don’t know anything about that),” he said.
Pawned
Ceniza, a son of a former policeman, said the firearms were only pawned to them.
“Pailisan ra na sa mga tawo kung mogamit sila og drugs (They will claim the items back if they want to use drugs),” he said.
Supt. Rodolfo Albotra, head of PIB, said a trend among criminal groups is to hire armed suspects for security.
Complaints for selling and possession of drugs and firearms will be filed against the suspects before Cebu Provincial Prosecutor’s Office.