CDN Photo Benjie Talisic
CEBU CITY — Robert Larisma, 35, is a fixture on the streets around Barangay Mambaling in Cebu City, picking up and dropping off passengers on his three-wheeled electric bike.
However, the amusement among residents in the area over the novelty of having an e-bike used as passenger motorcycle, similar to a habal habal or an Angkas bike, turned into a frown when they learned that Larisma has also been using this mode to transport and drop off illicit drugs.
The residents, his neighbors in the same village in particular, then turned on Larisma and alerted the police of his illegal activities.
Early today, a Sunday (December 16), the Mambaling police finally caught Larisma red-handed after placing him on surveillance for a week.
Chief Inspector Randy Caballes, the chief of the Mambaling Police Station, said Larisma initially denied he had shabu (crystal meth) until a thorough search showed he was in possession of a number of small packets of the illegal drugs that had a total street value of P359,000.
Larisma is now held at the Mambaling police detention facility pending the filing of appropriate charges against him.