AN anti-narcotics operation in Consolacion, Cebu, on the eve of All Saints’ Day led to the arrest of one of Central Visayas region’s most wanted drug personalities after he sold two kilograms of shabu worth P13.6 million to an undercover officer, Police Regional Office 7 (PRO7) Director Brigadier General Roderick Augustus B. Alba said.

In a report to Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Gen. Rodolfo S. Azurin Jr., the PRO7 director said the suspect, a “high-value target” (HVT), was a resident of Barangay Duljo Fatima in Cebu City.

“We have arrested a ‘high-value individual’ in Central Visayas following a 2-month surveillance and are investigating the main source of the huge volume of drugs confiscated from his possession,” Alba said.

According to Alba, members of the Cebu Police Provincial Office Drug Enforcement Unit/Provincial Intelligence Branch led by P/Lt. Col. Mark Lester Eteroza, in coordination with the local police, conducted the sting in Bgy. Tayud in Consolacion municipality at 2:45 a.m. Monday.

The suspect yielded two kilos of the so-called “poor man’s cocaine” valued at P13.6 million and the buy-bust money during the anti-narcotics operation supervised by Cebu PPO Officer-in-Charge (OIC) Col. Rommel Ochave.

The suspect is now under the custody of the Cebu PPO and will be facing non-bailable charges for the sale and possession of prohibited drugs under Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

The recovered drugs were submitted to the PNP Regional Forensic Unit for quantitative and qualitative examination, said Alba.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Cory Martinez