THREE men, including an alleged cousin of slain drug lord Jeffrey “Jaguar” Diaz, were arrested last Tuesday dawn in two separate drug busts in Barangay Tanke, Talisay City.
Narsel Hoybia was arrested when operatives of the Talisay City Police Station led by Supt. Aileen Recla conducted a buy-bust operation in Sitio Rattan in Barangay Tanke.
Aside from Hoybia, Reynaldo Racaza, 47; and Clifford Serenobis, 21, were also arrested in a separate drug bust in the same barangay.
Confiscated from the suspects were packs of suspected shabu with an estimated value of P492,000.
Recla told reporters that they were initially conducting operations against a certain Noel Macaraya, an alleged cousin of Diaz, who recently transferred operations from Barangay Duljo Fatima in Cebu City to Barangay Tanke following the notorious drug lord’s death earlier this year.
Recla said that during their buy-bust operation, Macaraya was able to meet with their poseur buyer to consummate the sale, but immediately fled and threw three packs of shabu after sensing that local police were in the area.
Macaraya even attempted to fight off police officers, but his .45 caliber pistol accidentally fell from his hand due to his sudden flight.
But even though Macaraya evaded arrest, Racaza, who was identified as his subordinate, was arrested.
Around four packs of shabu worth P290,000 were recovered from Racaza.
Relative
In the same day, Recla and her operatives conducted another operation.
During that operation, they succeeded in arresting Hoybia and Serenobis.
Recla said Hoybia was believed to be a cousin of Diaz, just like Macaraya, but the degree of his relation to the slain drug lord has not been determined.
Recovered from Hoybia and Serenobis were two medium packs and 89 smaller sachets of suspected shabu worth P202 million.
The three suspects have been formally charged for illegal possession of drugs before the Talisay City Prosecutor’s Office yesterday.
Recla told Sun.Star Cebu that Hoybia and Macaraya were known as subordinates of Diaz, but transferred to Talisay City after he was slain by policemen in Las Piñas City earlier this year.
When Diaz was still alive, Macaraya was often spotted in Barangay Tanke to drop off supplies of drugs to their contacts.
Following Diaz’s death, Hoybia initially surrendered to the police during an “Oplan Tokhang,” but eventually returned to his old habit.
But with their boss’s death, Macaraya, Hoybia and some of Diaz’s subordinates decided to transfer to Tanke since they can easily leave Cebu from there.
Arrest
Seven people, including two notorious drug pushers, were arrested Tuesday night in a drug bust in Barangay Poblacion Ward III in Minglanilla.
Of the seven men arrested by local police, Wilfredo “Junlie” dela Calzada, 32, and Manuel “Koreano” Jimenez, 40, a Filipino-American, were considered Level 2 drug pushers, said Insp. Florendo Fajardo, Minglanilla Police station chief.
Aside from Dela Calzada and Jimenez, also arrested are Ritchie Agraviador, 29; Adrian Auman, 29; Cesar Peñaflor; Eleonor delos Santos, 30; and Lornelyn Cabahug, 20, after they caught having a pot session during the operation.
Confiscated from the suspects are 15 small sachets and three medium packs containing alleged shabu with an estimated value of P77,625, a caliber .357 revolver with four bullets, two pieces P100 buy-bust money, and P380 alleged proceeds of Jimenez’s illegal trade and drug paraphernalia.
Dela Calzada and Jimenez were trying to sell one small sachet of alleged shabu from a police decoy when the arrest happened.
Upon the arrest, Dela Calzada tried to escape but was already cornered by police officers.
The suspects did not resist arrest, Fajardo said.
Fajardo said that Dela Calzada was previously a surrenderee of the local police’s Oplan Tokhang operations, but eventually to returned to his old habits.
While Jimenez is a convicted felon in the United States for seven years and was deported due to his drug cases.
The suspects will be charged for illegal possession of drugs and paraphernalia.
While Dela Calzada will also be charged for illegal possession of firearms.
Suspects are currently detained at the Minglanilla Police Station until the formal filing of charges. Jyda Yeecynth Ang, USJ-R Intern