A MOTHER, her son and two others were arrested by the police in three separate drug busts in Cebu City on Tuesday evening and yesterday morning.
Edna Flores and her son Mark Van were arrested by the joint operatives from the Central Intelligence Branch (CIB) and Taboan Police Station in Barangay Pahina, San Nicolas, at 8:20 a.m. yesterday after they were caught allegedly packing shabu inside their house.
The two suspects allegedly yielded one medium-sized sachet and several small sachets containing alleged shabu. Police also recovered several receipts showing the transactions made by the suspects with a certain money transfer service and a notebook containing a list of all the persons whom the suspects had transactions with.
“The notebooks bore names of some Chinese nationals,” according to Mabolo Police Station chief Jacinto Mandal Jr.
Edna and Mark denied the allegations.
Edna was pinpointed by a certain Mark Moralde, a resident of Barangay Pasil, during police interrogation as the one who supplied him with the drugs.
Moralde was collared by CIB and the Mabolo police in Salinas Drive, Lahug, at 7:40 a.m. yesterday after being pinpointed also by a certain Mark Rustilo, who was arrested earlier on Tuesday at 11 p.m. after a concerned citizen informed the Mabolo Police Station about the suspect’s illegal drug activity in the area. Recovered from the possession of Moralde were two medium-sized sachets of alleged shabu and a mobile phone, while those from Rustilo were a medium-sized sachet of suspected shabu and buy-bust money.
“I believe that Edna has a main supplier on top of her. We will find out who that is in our next investigation,” Mandal said.
According to Mandal, Moralde and Edna were directly negotiating with each other on the sale of illegal drugs as revealed by the text messages found in their mobile phones.
“Reading from their conversation thread in the confiscated mobile phones, these suspects can dispose huge quantities of shabu,” Mandal said. All the transactions of the suspects dated from July 1 to present are contained in their gadgets. “They can even immediately dispose 100 kilograms of shabu in a single transaction.”
He said Mark Van has been included in the drug watch list of Taboan Police Station.
The police also subjected Edna and Mark Van to an exhaustive questioning where Mark Van dropped the name of a policeman.
“But we still have to conduct an investigation to uncover the dealings and the activities of this policeman. The claim must be supported with documents first before we can make a conclusion,” Mandal said.