A SUSPECTED operator of a drug den, a barangay tanod, five junkies and a female marijuana trader were caught in simultaneous operations by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) 7 on A. Lopez St., Barangay Calamba, Cebu City at 10 p.m. last Friday.
Earlier that day at 8:52 a.m., a suspected drug pusher who allegedly served as a hitman for suspected drug lord Alvaro “Barok” Alvaro was killed in a shootout in Guisok, Danao City.
Suspect Christian “Ekit” Baton succumbed to multiple gunshot wounds before he could reach the hospital.
Senior Insp. Alejandro Batobalonos, the city police chief, said the suspect was on their watchlist of drug personalities linked with Barok, who is now detained in the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center in Cebu City.
Two packs of shabu worth P36,816 were recovered from Baton.
Buy-bust
Before the shootout, a police officer who pretended to be a junkie and confidential informant approached the suspect and bought a sachet of shabu from him.
Baton, who sensed he was dealing with a police officer, allegedly pulled out a .9mm pistol tucked in his waistband and shot approaching operatives from City Anti-Illegal Drugs Unit, prompting them to fire back.
No police officer was hit.
In the Cebu City operation, PDEA 7 Information Officer Leia Albar said they seized more than P400,000 worth of illegal drugs and marijuana in Barangay Calamba.
A small sachet of shabu weighing .03 gram, which used to sell for P150, is now being sold at P500 each.
The increase, Albiar said, signifies that the supply is dwindling because of the intensified campaign against illegal drugs.
Operatives also recovered a fake PDEA 7 identification card with a photo of a rock band drummer from the den.
The arrested drug den operator was identified as Gerald “Shawlen” Botero, 20. His father Orencio, a tanod in a barangay in Getafe, Bohol, was also caught.
Denials
Both denied they are into the illegal drug trade.
Gerald said he was there to visit a friend, adding that the house is owned by another person, whose name he did not divulge.
“I do not use drugs,” he said in Cebuano.
Orencio, who worked as a motorcycle-for-hire driver, said he did not know where the PDEA 7 operatives got the contraband.
The alleged marijuana trader is Imelda Arroyo, but she tagged her son as the real dealer.
“I’ll ask him to surrender. I hope he owns up to everything,” Arroyo in Cebuano.
A two-week surveillance on Gerald and Arroyo confirmed their involvement in the illegal drug trade.
The other individuals arrested were alleged drug den visitors William Paul Frizas Cuevas, 34; Ronelo Paborada Largado, 27; Christian Sienes Conejo, 25; Leonard Frizas Cuevas, 23; and Rave Escolar Bello, 22.
Seized were 57 grams of white crystals believed to be shabu, nine packs containing dried marijuana leaves and drug paraphernalia.
PDEA 7 is preparing complaints to be filed against the suspects for allegedly violating Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.