Police seize a total of P78.2 million of illegal drugs in a buy-and-bust operation turned armed encounter on Tuesday afternoon, July 22, along Zuelling Avenue in Barangay Subangdaku, Mandaue City. CDND PHOTO / Benjie Talisic
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The 11.5 kilograms of suspected shabu recovered from a buy-bust operation that ended in a shootout, and the death of three suspects in Mandaue City on Tuesday afternoon, July 23, were believed to have come from Manila.
Police Brigadier Debold Sinas, Police Regional Office in Central Visayas director, gave this information in a press briefing on Thursday, July 25.
Sinas said that they believed these came from Manila because the packaging of the shabu was similar to that of the almost one kilo of shabu confiscated in two separate anti-illegal drug operations in Tubigon town in Bohol province on July 11 and in Cebu City on July 13.
“Accordingly, same source sila (they are of the same source). Ang source nila gikan sa Manila. Wala ta kahibaw pila ang gideliver diri pero hopefully kinalasan nato. (The source is from Manila. We don’t know how much was delivered in Cebu, but we hope that one in Mandaue was the last),” said Sinas.
Read more: Illegal drugs worth P78.2 million seized in buy-and-bust operation in Mandaue City
He said that they suspected that the P78.2 million worth of shabu in Mandaue City was to be distributed in the province and two of those killed in the shootout were allegedly big-time couriers, who had already been jailed in the past for dealing in illegal drugs.
He said perhaps the reason for their resisting arrest and for engaging police in a shootout was that they had with them the biggest shipment of shabu in the province.
Sinas said they were coordinating with the National Capital Regional Police Office (NCRPO) to help the PRO-7 to trace this bulk of shabu that reached Cebu from Manila.
”We are looking for the contact kung kinsa gyod (who the contact really is). We are not too sure who,” said Sinas.
Read more: 3 men killed in Mandaue City encounter are members of Ygot drug syndicate
He said they were also checking if the three suspects, including the high value target, Prince James L Mapalo, were connected to the notorious drug group, the Ygot group.
He also said that it would also be premature to say if the three suspects were part of the Ygot group because the group had already been neutralized in the past and new groups might have taken over in the drug trade.
He, however, said that they were continuously tracing the origin of the big shabu shipments in Cebu to close the network from Manila to the couriers in Cebu. | dbs