POLICE operations in Lapu-Lapu City and in Minglanilla during the weekend resulted in the arrest of four people, including a notorious drug pusher.
In Minglanilla, police arrested one of the town’s most wanted illegal drug personalities during a buy-bust in Barangay Tungkop at 4:15 p.m. last Saturday.
Chief Insp. Franco Rudolf Oriol, Minglanilla Police chief, reported that Julieto Lariego, 35, was arrested during their operation after he was caught in the act of selling suspected shabu to one of their operatives.
Upon confirming the sale, the operative posing as a buyer immediately signaled Oriol and his fellow policemen to arrest Lariego.
Recovered from Lariego’s possession were four large plastic packs and one small pack containing shabu with a combined weight of 52.04 grams.
The illegal drugs confiscated from Lariego’s possession had an estimated market value of P613,600.
According to police, Lariego is considered notorious in the town and has been in the top of their illegal drug watchlist.
Lariego will be charged for violation of Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drug Act of 2002.
Three hours earlier, operatives of Lapu-Lapu City’s Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Group (CAIDSOTG) arrested three persons, including a woman, during a buy-bust in Stone Village, Barangay Maribago.
Suspects were identified as Broyd Andrew Lofranco, Jaime Paquibot and Marry Joy Barliso. Barliso is Lofranco’s live-in partner.
Confiscated were 22 small packs and two medium packs containing suspected shabu worth P124,192.
Also recovered were P200 buy-bust money, P800 worth of illegal drug proceeds and various illegal drug paraphernalia.
Chief Insp. Mark Gifter Sucalit, Lapu-Lapu CAIDSOTG chief, told Sun.Star Cebu that they had Lofranco under surveillance for a week.
Sucalit said that Lofranco, a relatively new player in the illegal drug trade in Lapu-Lapu City, is a Level 3 drug pusher, meaning he can disposed around 200 grams of shabu per week.
When police arrested him, Lofranco attempted to escape but was thwarted by CAIDSOTG operatives.
Sucalit said Lofranco often sells illegal drugs to his neighbors and even construction workers.
RSOG operation
The Regional Special Operations Group (RSOG) 7, likewise, arrested a woman in Barangay Santa Cruz, Cebu City after she yielded 100 grams of shabu worth P1.2 million per the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) value.
Police identified the suspect as Marites Ponce Naparete, 38, who hails from Cambaro, Mandaue City. Naparete acted as a courier while the subject of the operation was a certain alias “Che-che.”
According to Senior Insp. Ruel Burlat of the RSOG, they had a hard time transacting with the suspect as “Che-che” was known to be tricky and uses women as her courier.
They first asked “Che-che” to meet up in Mandaue, but the location was later changed to Lapu-lapu until they finally fulfilled it in Jakosalem St., Barangay Sta. Cruz.
“Che-che” is a level 1 drug pusher and can dispose a kilo of shabu per week.
Burlat said that after they handed Naparete with the P100,000 worth of boodle money, they were surprised that it was not “Che-che” who was bringing the shabu.
Burlat said they transacted with “Che-che” for two weeks straight through text messaging.
Naparete is now under investigation to know the whereabouts of “Che-che” and where she was sourcing her drugs from.
Naparete denied the allegations and said that she was only instructed by Che-che to hand over the shabu to whoever asks for it.
But Burlat said that Napareta had long since became a courier for “Che-che” and was only caught now.
“She’s always instructed by Cheche for every transaction so she’s reallyinvolved with the illegal drug trade,” Burlat said in an interview with Superbalita Cebu.