Drug suspect caught with P6.9M shabu in Mandaue

ONE of the suspected top illegal drug traders in Mandaue City was arrested by the city’s police on Sunday in possession of P6.9 million worth of a substance believed to be shabu.

The arrest of Jason Barrieto Damole alias “Bogs,” 38, came hours after police arrested two female alleged drug pushers who pointed to him as their source of shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride).

Damole, of Dap-Dap, Barangay Catarman in the northern Cebu town of Lilo-an, has been relatively under the police radar until the police arrested Regine Alinsug, 23, who was dubbed as a level 2 high-value target (HVT).

Chief Insp. Mercy Villaro, the public information officer of the Mandaue City Police Office (MCPO), said by phone on Sunday that operatives from MCPO’s City Intelligence Branch led by Chief Insp. Oscar Boyles caught Alinsug on the basis of an arrest warrant for theft issued by Regional Trial Court Judge Mona Lila Tecson of Branch 1 in Cebu City.

Villaro said Alinsug, who was caught with a five-gram sachet of shabu on Saturday night, was later found to be in the drug watch list as a “level 2” HVT.

Upon questioning, Villaro said Alinsug revealed she is with the Almaden group, a drug gang closely watched by the police. Her revelations later led police to Genievive Perales, 18, who was arrested in Sitio Tambis, Barangay Umapad, Mandaue City, with about five grams of shabu.

From information obtained from the two women, policemen led by the city’s police chief Senior Supt. Roberto Alanas conducted a buy-bust operation that led to the arrest of Damole in Barangay Estaca of the town of Compostela, in coordination with the Compostela police.

Arrested with Damole were Kimberly Camero Avila, 20, of Sitio Cogon, Barangay Maslog, Danao City; and a 16-year-old girl, also of Danao City.

From Damole, police recovered 12 pieces of medium-sized plastic packs of suspected shabu totaling 590 grams and valued at P6.9 million, and P4,000 in cash.