Police operatives confront 55-year-old Danilo Ruiz outside his house after packs of shabu, a gun and several ammunition were confiscated in a search. Ruiz was reportedly the “middle man” of arrested Talisay City drug lord Steve Go.
CDN PHOTO/BENJIE B. TALISIC)
A former worker of the Bureau of Immigration, purportedly the “middle man” of suspected Talisay City drug lord Steve Go, was arrested on Monday after a joint police operation conducted on his home yielded packs of shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride), several ammunition and a 9 mm pistol.
Fifty-five-year-old Danilo Ruiz, who is also said to be the younger brother of former local government’s undersecretary Lito Ruiz and a relative of Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) regional director Yogi Filemon Ruiz, was asleep when joint elements of the Provincial Intelligence Branch, Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit, Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT), Provincial Public Safety Company and the Talisay City Police Office pounded on his door in Ruiz Compound, Barangay Tabunok, yesterday.
According to police, Ruiz opened the door at around 5:55 a.m. thinking that it was his neighbor knocking. He was shocked to see government operatives with a search warrant issued by Judge Jerry Dicdican of RTC Branch 25 against him.
Ruiz did not resist arrest after a search on his house, witnessed by Barangay Councilor Salo Abellana, yielded five packs of shabu with an estimated Dangerous Drug Board (DDB) value of 270 thousand pesos.
A 9 mm pistol, several bullets, assorted drug paraphernalia, a motorcycle and a four-wheeled vehicle reportedly owned by a certain PO1 Reynaldo Hoybia, were also recovered during the raid.
Hoybia is currently on floating status after the cop was linked as a drug protector in Talisay City.
Just a user
While Ruiz admitted owning the gun and ammunition for his “self defense,” he denied ownership of the illegal drugs.
According to Ruiz, he was not a drug dealer although he occasionally used shabu.
In an interview with reporters, Ruiz also admitted knowing Steve Go, a suspected drug lord in Talisay who is now confined at the Talisay City Jail in Barangay Maghaway.
Ruiz said that about a year ago, he used to visit Go in jail, doing errands for him, in exchange for P5,000 each time. But this, he said, already stopped.
Tabunok barangay councilor Salo Abellana, in an interview with Cebu Daily News, also said that he knew Ruiz to be a shabu user but not a dealer.
For his part, the PDEA regional director said that he did not know Danilo to be his relative and even if they were, he would not tolerate Danilo’s activities.
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