Trisikad driver nabbed with half a kilo of shabu

Trisikad driver Nephi Fernandez was arrested for possession of half a kilo of shabu worth P3.4 million. / Benjie Talisic

CEBU CITY, Philippines – Dissatisfied with his meager earnings as a trisikad driver, Nephi Fernandez also worked as a drug courier.

But Fernandez, 18, was arrested past midnight on Sunday, April 7, while delivering a pack of shabu to a police poseur buyer in a dark area located outside of his residence in Sitio Bliss in Barangay Mambaling, Cebu City.

A joint team consisting of personnel from the City Intelligence Branch (CIB) and the City Drug Enforcement Unit (CDEU) confiscated packs of shabu weighing about half a kilo and worth P3.4 million from the suspect’s possession.

Lieutenant Colonel Carlito Apilat, CIB head, told Cebu Daily News Digital that a poseur buyer was sent to buy a pack of shabu from the suspect prior to his arrest.

Apilat said they placed Fernandez under surveillance for at least eight days prior to their Sunday dawn operation.

He said that aside from being a drug courier, Fernandez would also sell illegal drugs.

The suspect, he said, uses his being a trisikad driver as a cover for his illegal drug activities.

In an interview with CDN Digital, Fernandez said that it was already the fourth time that he delivered packs of shabu which he would source from a certain Jessie. He already sold around three kilos of shabu in the last three months.

Apilat said they will continue to investigate where Fernandez would source his shabu to especially locate Jessie./dcb