ROUND UP NETS 50

CAUGHT! These men are among the 25 persons arrested by agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in an alleged shabu tiangge in Sitio Rattan, Barangay Tangke, Talisay City on Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016. (CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON)

Among those arrested are alleged members of Franz Sabalones’ Batman drug group with P1.6 million shabu

Almost five months since the government launched its relentless campaign against illegal drugs, the cat-and-mouse game between law enforcers and drug suspects continue.

In less than 24 hours since Tuesday afternoon, at least 50 persons, including a big-time illegal drug trader linked to the so-called Batman drug group of Franz Sabalones, were arrested in separate operations in Metro Cebu.

Agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Central Visayas (PDEA-7) arrested in a drug bust Carlos Abalo, a prominent drug personality who allegedly managed three drug dens in Barangay Tangke, Talisay City.

Seized from his possession were P1.6 million worth of shabu and assorted drug paraphernalia.

Also arrested were Abalo’s two cohorts Lloyd Manubag and Lucino Dakay as well as 22 young men who were allegedly caught at past 4 p.m. on Tuesday having drug sessions inside three houses, all owned by Abalo, in an area dubbed by PDEA as Talisay City’s “shabu tiange” or drug market.

Abalo is said to be a member of the Batman drug gang that was operated by Sabalones, an alleged big-time drug lord who has surrendered to Philippine National Police chief Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa and who is now currently detained in Camp Crame.

Abalo was fifth on the drugs watch list of the Talisay City Police Office, said PDEA-7 Director Yogi Filemon Ruiz.

Anti-drug authorities were still verifying if Sabalones was aware of the continued illegal drug operation of his alleged cohorts in Cebu.

Abalo, Manubag and Dakay are facing charges for violating Republic Act (RA) 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drug Act of 2002, particularly for selling illegal drugs — a non-bailable offense.

The 22 other suspects will be charged for “visiting a drug den” which is prohibited under RA 9165.

Lesson

“This should serve as a lesson for everybody who are still into illegal drugs. Ayaw na gyud intawon ninyo daota ang inyong kinabuhi (Please stop destroying your lives),” said Ruiz in a press conference yesterday.

Earlier yesterday, police arrested a 56-year-old government employee in Danao City and another person inside an alleged drug den.

Froilan Ralota, a regular driver of the Danao City government’s General Services Division, was caught with motorcycle-for-hire driver Jomar Batoon after the owner of a drug den, Ronnie Mata, was arrested in a drug bust in Barangay Poblacion at 4 a.m. on Wednesday.

Police also took into their custody two siblings — Aireen Laureto, 33; and her sister Juliet, 52, for selling dried marijuana in Danao City.

In Cebu City, 21 persons were arrested in separate anti-illegal drug operations since Tuesday afternoon.

Long coastline

Despite the government’s no-nonsense war against illegal drugs, Chief Supt. Noli Taliño, director of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7), admitted that there are still those who manage to transport prohibited substances to Cebu.

“Cebu has a very long coastline. We’ve been monitoring the island, but of course, we could not guard everything,” he said.

“Nonetheless, we still managed to confiscate quite a number of illegal drugs,” he added.

Taliño said he earlier received reports about the presence of shabu laboratories in Central Visayas, but upon validation, none was found.

After they seized at least P48 million worth of shabu in just a week, the regional police chief encouraged local policemen not to rest on their laurels and instead to aim for more.

“There should be no let up in our campaign. We will have more operations in the coming days,” he said.

Based on the records of PRO-7, a total of 72,469 drug users and 5,913 pushers surrendered during the implementation of the Oplan Tokhang or “knock and convince,” in which policemen go house-to-house to persuade drug users and pushers to surrender or face arrest and criminal charges.

From July 1 to November 16, a total of 138 drug suspects were killed in police operations, while 198 were gunned down by unknown assailants in Central Visayas.

On the other hand, at least 1,634 drug pushers and 1,908 drug users were arrested in different police operations in the region.

Due to the ongoing campaign against illegal drugs, Taliño said that the supply of shabu in Central Visayas has decreased as evidenced by a rise in street prices to three times the cost before.

‘I dont know Franz’

PDEA-7 spokesperson Leia Albiar, meanwhile, said they were now validating the report that Abalo was connected to Sabalones.

“Those are just reports. We have no evidence yet that he (Abalo) was indeed a member of Sabalones’s drug group. We have yet to confirm that,” she said.

In an interview at the PDEA-7 office, Abalo denied being a member of Sabalones’s group.

“Nakadungog lang ko sa ngalan ni Franz pero wa ko nakakita ana niya (I heard about Franz but I have never met him yet),” he said.

Abalo also washed his hands of any involvement in the illegal drugs trade.

“Bisan i-surveillance pa mi didto. Ang akong mga silingan nakahibaw kon unsa mi sa amoa (Even if you conduct a surveillance in our place, you will know that I am not into illegal drugs. My neighbors know what kind of person I am),” he said.

Abalo, however, admitted that he was using shabu.

The 22 persons arrested inside the three houses owned by Abalo also denied conducting a drug session inside a “shabu tiange.”

One of them, 22-year-old Jonebel Cabardo, said they were just playing basketball when the PDEA-7 operatives arrested them.

“Nagduwa ra mi og basket. Wa mi kalibutan ana ilang gisulti (We were just playing basketball when the police arrested us. We do not know what they were accusing us of),” he said.

Ruiz, however, said the suspects were just making up alibis so they could be exonerated from the charges.

“If they were truly just playing basketball, why would the operatives arrest them in the first place? These men were seen inside the drug den. We saw pieces of drug paraphernalia in front of them,” he said.