Former Medellin Mayor and now Councilor Ricky Ramirez is handcuffed by CPPO personnel during a raid in his home Wednesday morning. (CDN PHOTO/BENJIE TALISIC)
True to its promise to go after the “big fish”, Cebu policemen arrested former Mayor and now Councilor Ricky Ramirez in an operation inside his residence in Medellin town, 115 kilometers north of Cebu City, at around 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
Seized inside the official’s residence in Barangay Caputatan were a .45 caliber gun, a .9mm pistol, a .22 riffle and drug paraphernalia that includes a digital weighing scale and tin foils.
The raid was conducted by the Regional Intelligence Division, Provincial Intelligence Branch of the Cebu Provincial Police Office on the strength of a search warrant issued by Judge Jacinto Fajardo of the Regional Trial Court Branch 66 in Talisay City, southern Cebu.
Inventory of the seized items continues as of this writing.
In a radio interview, Ramirez admitted owning the guns but not the drug paraphernalia.
He said he was surprised to see the digital weighing scale and tin foils inside his room.
Ramirez admitted that he once used illegal drugs but only when he was a teenager.
Now at 53, he said he is a changed man.
Asked if he is willing to undergo a drug test, Ramirez “It’s okay if there is a court order.”
Ramirez will be presented to Chief Supt. Jose Mario Espino, director of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas, within the day.