Police clarify: Woman nabbed with P8.8-M shabu was their target

Judy Ann Longgakit, a native of Barangay Poblacion in Digos City, Davao Del Sur, is arrested during a buy-bust operation in Barangay Duljo-Fatima, Cebu City on July 16. | CDNDigital file photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The 21-year-old woman arrested last night, July 16, 2019, was the main target of the buy-bust operation in Barangay Duljo Fatima in Cebu City.

Police Colonel Gemma Vinluan, Cebu City Police Office director, said this was to clarify their earlier assessment that Judy Ann Longgakit was not the target of the joint operation of the Mambaling and Guadalupe police precincts.

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Vinluan said that it was not the common law husband of Longgakit, Johnrey Jabagat, that they were operating against but Longgakit, herself.

Longgakit, for her part, earlier denied any involvement in the drug trade and had pointed to Jabagat as the owner of the paper bags containing P8.8 million of suspected shabu.

But Vinluan said that Longgakit had been closely monitored and trailed by the Guadalupe Police for quite a while.

“Matagal na nilang minaman-manan tong tao to, si Judy (They have been following this person, Judy, for a long time),” said Vinluan.

Vinluan said that the surveillance and operation against Longakit was conducted after they previously arrested suspects, who pointed to her as their source.

For his part, Police Major Dindo Juanito Alaras, Guadalupe Police Precinct chief, said they had been monitoring Longgakit for quite a while that there was even a time when they lost track of her.

So when recently got a lead on her whereabouts, they then conducted the buy-bust operation, said Alaras.

Granting that it was her live-in partner, who allegedly owned the paper bags containing the P8.8 million shabu as Longgakit claimed, Alaras said that that would still not get her off the hook.

He said this was because Longgakit was the one who handed over the paper bag containing the suspected shabu to an undercover police officer during the buy-bust operation.

He said this would still make her a cohort if her allegations against Jabagat were true.

However, Alaras said that they could not determine yet if Jabagat was involved in the illegal drug business.

He said they had no proof against him since he was not at the house when the raid was conducted. /dbs