PDEA-7 regional director Yogi Felimon Ruiz presents the drugs confiscated during an operation. (FILE PHOTO)
A suspected Cebuano drug lord fell into the trap set up by authorities on Friday, giving the campaign against illegal drugs a huge lift.
But the arrest of Marwin Abelgas, tagged as a big-time drug dealer in Cebu, was only a dent, the tip of the iceberg, in the extensive illegal drug trade in Central Visayas.
More than a dozen more “drug lords” are out there across the region, according to Director Yogi Filemon Ruiz of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Central Visayas (PDEA-7).
Ruiz said they are pursuing at least 19 more drug lords in Central Visayas, 16 of whom are based in Cebu. The three other “drug lords” are from Bohol.
Ruiz refused to reveal the names of the suspected drug lords while further investigations are being conducted.
Ruiz said these drug lords are given fair warning: either stop their illegal operations or move to other regions, as the long arms of the law will eventually catch up with them.
“Kapoy naman sige og panawagan ani nila nga pangundang na mo. Ang ako lang is tago na mo pag-ayo o balhin na lang kay gukdon g’yud namo sila,” Ruiz said in an interview yesterday.
(I am tired of making an appeal for them to stop their illegal activities. All I can tell them is to just hide yourselves well or to transfer to other areas because we will definitely run after you.)
PDEA-7 agents on Friday arrested Abelgas in a drug bust, a suspected drug lord based in Barangay Dumlog, Talisay City, and four of his alleged cohorts.
Seized from them were five kilos of shabu worth P20.4 million, four ATM cards and a weighing scale.
Considered a major distributor of illegal drugs by PDEA-7, Abelgas allegedly can dispose of at least five kilos of shabu per week.
Charges for violating Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, particularly for selling shabu, will be filed against Abelgas before the Talisay City Prosecutor’s Office next week. The case is non-bailable.
Suspected big-time drug pusher Marwin Abelgas raises his hand as PDEA-7 Regional Director Yogi Filemon Ruiz called his name during interrogation after they were arrested in a buy-bust operation in Phase ll Block 4 Deca homes, Barangay Dumlog, Talisay City together with Kate Estrera, Juvan Torres, Wyett Arceo and Daphni Rose Flores, with five kilos of shabu. (CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON)
Anatomy of a drug lord
A drug lord, Ruiz explained, supplies shabu to drug pushers and manages to distribute at least one kilo of shabu per week.
“That’s already a big distribution,” he said.
Early this year, Ruiz said PDEA’s central office in Manila provided him with a list containing the names of the suspected drug lords in Central Visayas.
Some of the names, he said, are new to them.
Ruiz said PDEA-7 is doing its best to arrest all 19 remaining suspected drug lords in the region.
“When we talk of drug lords, many people just think of Jaguar. What they did not know is that there are still others who are not familiar to them,” he explained.
Ruiz was referring to Jeffrey “Jaguar” Diaz, a resident of Barangay Duljo-Fatima in Cebu City, who was tagged as Central Visayas’ top drug lord for several years until his death last year.
About a week after he expressed interest in returning to the folds of the law in a media interview, Jaguar was gunned down by Cebu-based policemen in Las Piñas City. The July 17, 2016 operation, the police said, was a legitimate encounter.
Franz Sabalones, who was reportedly the number two drug personality in Central Visayas for several years, surrendered to Philippine National Police chief Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa in August last year.
Sabalones, who reportedly distributed illegal drugs in his hometown San Fernando in southern Cebu, was eventually released from police custody since there was no basis to hold him yet.
A case for violating Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 was filed against Sabalones is pending before the Department of Justice.
Another suspected drug lord Alvaro “Barok” Alvaro, who hails from Danao City, also surrendered to the National Bureau of Investigation in June last year.
He is currently detained at the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center while the charges for illegal gun possession and the anti-illegal drugs law are being tried in court.
New names
Ruiz said their new list of suspected drug lords excluded Sabalones and Alvaro.
“There are new names, but there are always old names. I can’t tell you how many are old and new but we are monitoring all of them,” he said.
Now that a select group of policemen were given the go signal by Dela Rosa to resume their antidrug operations, Ruiz said PDEA-7 can now focus on high-level targets, including the drug lords.
“The drug lords in Cebu have been identified. It’s now just a matter of locating them,” he added.