Detained drug lord’s live-in partner nabbed, P3.4M shabu seized, cohort killed in Carcar raid

Faisa Dhahi, end of table corvering head with towel, is arrested after 500 grams of suspected shabu was found inside her house in Carcar City in southern Cebu on Saturday, February 23. | Benjie Talisic

CEBU CITY, Philippines — A drug raid in a house in Barangay Poblacion 1, Carcar City, on Saturday, February 23, yielded P3.4 million worth of suspected shabu, resulted to the arrest of the FilArabian common law wife or live-in partner of an arrested drug lord, and the death of another drug suspect, who tried to shoot it out with the raiding police team.

Senior Inspector Alejandro Batobalonos, Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit of the Cebu Provincial Police Office PDEU/CPPO chief, told Cebu Daily News Digital in an interview on February 23 that they arrested Faisa Dhahi, 28, after they found 500 grams of suspected shabu inside her house in the barangay.

Batobalonos said the confiscated suspected shabu had an estimated Dangerous Drugs Board value of P3.4 million.

This drug haul followed Thursday’s buy-bust operation  of the police where P1.5 million worth of suspected shabu was confiscated.

Drug suspect, Faisa Dhahi (front) is escorted by a police officer after her arrest on Saturday, February 23. | Benjie Talisic

Read more: Buy-bust in Tisa yields P1.5M worth of illegal drugs

Leonides Barcelona, whom police believed was a cohort of Dhahi, was found by police securing the perimeter of Dhahi’s house during the raid.

Batobalonos said that when they approached Barcelona, he tried to pull out a gun, it was then that police fired at Barcelona to neutralize him.

The wounded Barcelona was rushed to the hospital for treatment where he was declared dead on arrival by hospital doctors.

Batobalonos said that Barcelona was also a known drug personality in the area, but they conducted the operation against Dhahi first since they learned that Barcelona had not received his supply of illegal drugs that week.

He also said that they conducted the operation against Dhahi after they learned from one of the arrested drug suspects in one of their raids pointed to Jay Camotes as the source of their illegal drugs.

He said that Camotes was a drug lord, who is detained at the Cebu City Jail.

Camotes was arrested by Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Central Visayas agents a couple of years ago and had been detained at the Cebu City Jail since.

He also said that they later learned that it was Camotes’ common law wife, Dhahi, who took over the illegal drug business with Camotes in jail.

Batobalonos said that they served the search warrant at past 6 a.m.

Dhahi was detained at the CPPO detention cell pending the filing of charges. /dbs