P127M SHABU SEIZED
Couple Mark and Mercy Abellana try to hide themselves as arresting officers from the Cebu City Police Office check on the estimated P121 million worth of shabu seized from their house in Barangay San Nicolas on
Saturday night, Jan. 28, 2017.
Cebu City policemen arrested a couple and seized close to P121 million worth of shabu in what police described as the biggest drug haul in the Central Visayas since President Rodrigo Duterte launched an intensified campaign against illegal drugs.
The seizure came just within hours after the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Central Visayas (PDEA-7) also confiscated around P6 million worth of shabu (methamphetamine) in Lapu-Lapu City.
Spouses Mark and Mercy Abellana did not resist arrest when the operatives barged into a house in Sitio Kalubihan, Barangay San Nicolas, Cebu City, at around 9 p.m. on Saturday, said Chief Insp. Christopher Navida, head of the Cebu City Police Office’s City Intelligence Branch who operated along with the City Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force (CAIDSOTF).
“They are considered high-value targets. Good that they did not fight back. Now, we could get more information from them with regard to their illegal operations,” said Navida in an interview.
Charges for violating Republic Act 9165 or theComprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, particularly for selling illegal drugs, will be filed against the couple before the Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office. The offense is non-bailable.
The suspects, who has two children aged 7 and 9, denied the accusations.
“Dili na amoa. (The packs of shabu are not ours),” said Mercy in an interview.
They also denied living in the house where the packs of shabu were seized.
Seized from their possession were about 10 kilograms of shabu with a Dangerous Drugs Board Board value of P120,950,000. No firearms were recovered from the Abellana couple.
“So far, this is the biggest drug haul in Central Visayas,” Navida said.
“Despite what we achieved, there will be no letup in our campaign against illegal drugs. Tuloy-tuloy tayo,” he added.
Navida said the source of drugs was Mark’s brother, Michael, who is detained at the National Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City.
He said they still have to conduct an investigation to find out who the other contacts of the suspects are.
Meanwhile, a drug syndicate believed to be operating from inside the Cebu City Jail (CCJ) surfaced yesterday, even as local drug syndicates are now found to be embracing modern technologies in their illegal trade.
The claim that a drug trade is being operated from inside the CCJ was revealed yesterday by Janice Godinez, the widow of a slain drug lord, who was arrested by agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Central Visayas (PDEA-7) in a drug bust in Lapu-Lapu City on Friday night.
Godinez, speaking to reporters yesterday after the buy-bust operation that led to the seizure of about P6 million worth of shabu (methamphetamine), claimed that she and her now husband of four years, Manuel Godinez, got their drug supply from somebody inside the Cebu City Jail named “Jovy.”
She said they did not know “Jovy” personally, but they were in constant communication with him through text messaging and calls.
“Motawag ra na siya kung kanus-a kuhaon, asa kuhaon (He will just call us as to when and where to get our supply),” Janice said.
Janice and Manuel were arrested in a buy-bust operation inside their house in Sitio Saac, Barangay Buaya, Lapu-Lapu City past 9 p.m. on Friday.
Aside from the drugs, PDEA agents found inside the house a high-powered firearm and several handheld radio units.
Janice was the widow of Joel “Tongol” Nudalo, a notorious drug lord who was killed by a lone gunman inside a cockfighting arena in Buenavista town, Bohol on June 23, 2005. She remarried in 2012 to Manuel.
PDEA-7 director Yogi Filemon Ruiz admitted that drug pushers like the Godinezes have gone high tech in conducting their illegal activities.
This after three hand-held radios, which can monitor the city police’s frequency, were confiscated from a husband-and-wife tandem alongside the P6 million worth of shabu.
“High tech na ni sila kaning kontra nato (Their operation is using high tech, better than ours),” Ruiz said.
Ruiz said an undercover agent bought P300,000 worth of shabu inside the Godinez residence.
When the transaction was consummated, the other PDEA agents pounced on the couple.
Aside from radio units which monitored police operations, Ruiz said the Godinez couple and their alleged drug runners also used money transfer in transacting their illegal drug trade.
Ruiz said Janice had taken over her Tonggol’s operation after he was killed, but her activities have largely gone under the police radar for the past decade.
“Kani si Janice pagkamatay sa iyahang husband (Nudalo) siya ang ni take over sa iyahang drug business. Mga contact ug mga nag-supply sa iyahang bana didto na mag-supply sa iyaha. Indicated sa volume of drugs nga nakuha sa ilaha (Right after the husband of Janice died, she took over the drug business. The contacts and the suppliers of her husband are now her supplier, as indicated of the volume of drugs confiscated from her),” Ruiz said.
Seized from the couple were a kilo of shabu worth at least P6 million, a KG9 submachine gun, a fake police badge, three hand-held radios with Lapu-Lapu City Police Office (LLCPO) frequency and cash transfer receipts from a established courier company.
Ruiz said he would discuss with Chief Supt. Noli Taliño, the Central Visayas Regional Police Office director, about the handheld radios and how the couple was able to access the police frequency that enabled them to monitor the police’s operations.
“Where did they get the frequency? I want to inform General Taliño that there is someone (in the police force) that might have given the frequency to the syndicate,” he added.
Not a kilo?
Manuel Godinez, interviewed by reporters yesterday, admitted to be involved in illegal drugs but he denied they were in possession of a kilo of shabu.
Janice, in the same interview at the PDEA-7 office in Cebu City, also insisted that during the buy-bust operations, only 25 grams of shabu were seized from them.
“Over. Over sad nang one kilo uy. Nakuha nila namo is 25 grams ra. Wala mi kakita asa sila (PDEA) ato. Wala mi ing-ana ka dako (One kilo is too much. What they seized from us was only 25 grams of shabu. I don’t know where the PDEA got the other. We don’t have that much shabu),” Janice said.
Ruiz belied Godinez’s claim, saying she was lying and just wanted to find a way to mitigate their case.
“Binuang man sad na (That’s a foolish claim). In the first place (their admission that they sell shabu is) tantamount to saying that they are guilty,” Ruiz said.
Ruiz said it was also ridiculous that they said the PDEA only seized 25 grams of shabu when there were clearly several small to large packets of shabu that were seized during the operation.
Ruiz said Janice and Manuel were found to have been able to dispose 3 to 4 kilos of shabu a week, possibly not just in Lapu-Lapu City but also neighboring cities and towns.
Ruiz also said that Janice is the niece of the late Jesusimo “Titots” Dequitos, a drug lord who controlled the shabu business in Barangay Tejero, Cebu City, for 20 years. PDEA-7 agents killed Dequitos in a buy-bust operation last January 13.
Innocent
Manuel, on the other hand, admitted he was arrested last year by the City Intelligence Branch (CIB) of Mandaue City Police Office for a drug-related case, which cost him his job as an overseas seaman. He said he was not able to get back his old job because of his police record.
Manuel insisted his wife was innocent and was merely dragged into his illegal activity, even if she admitted role in the trade.
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