Police arrest Teofilo Tampos Jr., 46, a resident of Barangay Nahawan, Clarin, Bohol in a buy-bust operation on Saturday afternoon. Police seized three kilos of shabu worth P48 million. (CDN PHOTO/BENJIE TALISIC)
From Abu to Shabu
A police checkpoint set up as part of tight security measures while two Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) bandits are still on the loose in Bohol instead netted a drug personality, whose arrest led police to a drug haul valued at P48 million, the biggest in recent history in the province.
It was also a case of a son inadvertently leading policemen to his own father who, according to authorities, was the bigger drug trader.
As a result, both Jonathan Tampus, 23, and his father, Teofilo, 46, have landed in local jails in the towns of Loon and Clarin.
Police first arrested Jonathan and his live-in-partner Geraldine Betinol, 18, in a police checkpoint in front of the Loon Municipal Hall on Friday night for possession of about P500,000 worth of shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride) and a .45 caliber pistol.
Jonathan and Betinol were traveling on a motorcycle from Tagbilaran City when they were flagged down in a police checkpoint in Loon, located about 52 kilometers away from the province’s capital.
The couple was on their way to Sitio Kalubihan, Barangay Nahawan, Clarin town where Jonathan and his father, Teofilo, live.
Loon is 44 kilometers away from Clarin, the scene of the April 22 clash between government forces and ASG members that left four members of the bandit group dead, while three others escaped.
One of the ASG stragglers, Abu Saad, was captured in Tubigon town on Thursday and shot dead by policemen early on Friday in Cortes town while reportedly attempting to escape. This left two ASG members still being hunted by authorities.
Based on information drawn out from Jonathan, the police swooped down on Teofilo’s home in Clarin 18 hours later, where they found about three kilos of drugs valued at P48 million by the Dangerous Drugs Board.
Police said Teofilo was considered a high-value target who had recently surrendered to the police two months ago under Operation Tokhang, the police community-level anti-drug campaign that asks both drug traders and users to voluntarily give themselves up and promise to no longer engage in the illicit drug trade.
Teofilo was also freed since there was no pending case against him, according to Senior Insp. Fernando Peroramas, the Clarin police chief.
Since the police could not pin down Teofilo, they instead placed him under surveillance for about a month, said Peroramas.
Peroramas said the older Tampus, a carpenter, was finally arrested in a buy-bust operation at around 1 p.m. on Saturday in a joint operation by the town’s police and elements of the Regional Intelligence Division and the Drug Enforcement Unit in Central Visayas led by Senior Insp. Bertulfo Tero.
Police later seized the three kilos of shabu found inside his home following his arrest.
The father-and-son tandem will face separate charges for violation of Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
The older Tampus, interviewed at his detention cell at the Clarin police, admitted his involvement in the drug trade and revealed that he got his supply
from a certain “Sam,” an inmate at the National Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City.
According to Tampus, he was prepared to face the consequences of his illegal drugs business, saying he was aware that he could get caught any time.
“Ako na ni gipangandaman daan nga mao gyud ni (I have prepared myself because I know that one day I could get arrested),” said Tampus, a widower.
But he insisted that he only acted as a middle man in the illegal drugs trade initiated by Sam, whom he described as his “boss.”
He said his task was to repack the shabu for a fee of P3,000 per week.
Tampus said he got his instructions from “Sam” through text messages on where to get his drug supply.
He said there is no specific date and time on the arrival of his drugs supply.
On Friday, he said he received the three kilos of shabu from a runner sent by Sam.
But Peroramas said Tampus did not only repack drugs but was actively engaged in selling shabu to drug users and small-scale peddlers.
In fact, the immediate reason for his arrest was when he sold a pack of shabu worth only P500 to a policeman posing as buyer on Saturday afternoon, said Peroramas.
But when he sensed the presence of other law enforcers in the area, Tampus broke free and immediately ran back into his house, said Peroramas.
The chasing policemen broke into his house, and it was then that they saw he had a stash of three one-kilo bags of shabu inside his house.
Peroramas said Tampus, who was unarmed, did not resist arrest.
Clarin Mayor Allen Ray Piezas said Tampus was a known drug pusher in his town.
He congratulated the police for his arrest and promised to give commendation to the members of the arresting team.
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