POLICE seized P75.1 million worth of illegal drugs in separate anti-narcotics operations in Cebu City on Saturday night, Feb. 10, 2024.
Brig. Gen. Anthony Aberin, chief of the Police Regional Office 7, said the drug busts would “inflict a major blow” against the illegal drug trade in Central Visayas.
Aberin, in a statement, assured the public that their “aggressive campaign will never stop until the last trafficker is put to jail.”
The first operation took place inside the Ludo Memorial Park in Barangay Carreta at 8 p.m. It led to the arrest of Elmer Saguran “Budok” Barioga, who yielded large packs of suspected shabu weighing 10 kilos and worth P68 million.
Operatives from the Regional Police Drug Enforcement Unit 7 along with the Drug Enforcement Group 7 and the Regional Intelligence Division carried out the drug bust.
In another drug bust at 10:15 p.m., police caught sophomore Maritime college student Christian Dave “Boshook” Canoy, 22, in a subdivision in Barangay Guadalupe.
Seized from Canoy were 1,055 grams of suspected shabu, with an estimated value of P7.17 million.
The operation, conducted by the City Intelligence Unit together with the City Drug Enforcement Unit, was led by Lt. Lyndon Mondragon and supervised by Lt. Col. Araquil Guardaya.
During the investigation, police said Canoy admitted that he was still new to the illegal drug trade, adding that he was merely following orders from someone he did not know.
Police said Canoy would received instructions from the person through text messages. He would then get his pay of P10,000 after a successful delivery.
Police did not provide details on the mode of payment for Canoy.
Investigations revealed that Canoy belonged to the Joel Paca drug group.
SunStar Cebu reported that Paca was caught in a drug bust in Barangay Tangke, City of Naga on Aug. 6, 2018. Paca was a councilor of the city’s Barangay North Poblacion at the time of his arrest.
Aberin praised his anti-narcotics personnel for their big haul, which he said was in line with the Bida program of the Department of the Interior and Local Government
Suspects will be facing complaints for violation of Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.