A barangay councilman in the northwestern Cebu town of Tuburan known in his community as an anti-drug crusader is now tagged as a drug peddling suspect.
Police claimed that Councilman Raul Mesa Cole Sr., 40, who is also the chairman of the peace and order council of his village, Barangay Putat, was in fact a drug trader when a still undetermined amount of alleged shabu was uncovered in his house by policemen supposedly just out to find unlicensed firearms in his house.
The raiding team from the Provincial Intelligence Branch (PIB) and the Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit (PDEU) of the Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO), armed with a search warrant issued by Judge Jerry Dicdican of Regional Trial Court Branch 25 in Danao City, stormed the house of Cole on Friday afternoon after they learned he was hiding firearms, said Superintendent Joie Yape, PIB chief, who led the raid with Chief Inspector Rolan Alicer, chief of PDEU.
The raiding team did not only find a .22 caliber revolver in his house but also uncovered from inside a shanty that doubled as a warehouse adjoining Cole’s house suspected methamphetamine crystals stashed in three medium sized and one large plastic bags, according to Yape.
Yape said Cole initially denied he had shabu in his house but when he saw that the police have found the drug stash, he claimed it was owned by his son Raul Jr., who the father alleged is a drug user.
But Alicer said they were actually also investigating Cole Sr. for Illegal drugs activities.
Alicer, a former police chief of Tuburan, said he did not initially believe that the older Cole would be involved in illegal drugs since he knew Cole Sr. as an active fighter of illegal activities in their barangay.
Cole is how held at PIB office in Cebu City for questioning.
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.
