Albuera Mayor Espinosa arrested

Albuera Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr. arrives at the CIDG office in Camp Crame in this August file photo (INQUIRER FILE).

MAYOR Rolando Espinosa Sr. of Albuera, Leyte was arrested yesterday at the Albuera Police Station where he had been staying after he surrendered to authorities last August.

Senior Supt. Franco Simborio, Leyte Provincial Police chief, served the warrant of arrest to Espinosa Sr. at past 8 a.m. after Judge Carlos Arguelles, presiding judge of the Regional Trial Court Branch 14 in Baybay, issued the arrest warrants against Mayor Espinosa and his son Kerwin for drug and firearms possession cases following a raid in their houses in July.

Mayor Espinosa, who had been linked to the illegal drugs trade, is under the protective custody of the Albuera police.

His son Kerwin, who is said to be the top drug lord in Eastern Visayas, is a subject of a police manhunt.

Mayor Espinosa later underwent a medical checkup and was brought to the Sub-Provincial Jail in Baybay Leyte as the judge immediately issued a commitment order for his immediate detention in the said jail.

Jail Warden Antonio Ubaldo said that at present they have now 45 detainees, including Espinosa. The official said that the mayor will be locked at Cell No. 1 where he will stay alone.

Meanwhile, an official of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA-7) said that Espinosa’s arrest would not have a significant impact on the supply of illegal drugs in Cebu and other parts of Central Visayas.

“We have different players in Region 7. The supply of illegal drugs here comes from the group of (Jeffrey) Jaguar (Diaz) and Franz (Sabalones),” said PDEA-7 Director Yogi Filemon Ruiz in a phone interview yesterday.

Based on their monitoring, he said the operations of Mayor Espinosa’s son Kerwin is confined in Eastern Visayas.