18-year-old, two others nabbed with P4.4 million ‘shabu’ in Talisay City

Some 650 grams of suspected shabu in several packets valued at P4.4 million are recovered in a drug bust conducted by the Cebu Provincial Police Office- Provincial Intelligence Branch pre-dawn of Sept. 28, 2019 in Sitio Lea, Barangay Linao, Talisay City. |CPPO-PIB photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines —Two suspected big time drug dealers, one of whom is only 18 years old, and an alleged buyer of illegal drugs were caught by the police in Sitio Lea, Barangay Linao, Talisay City, Cebu with P4.4 million worth of suspected shabu at around 1:30 a.m. this Saturday, September 28.

The two men in the  high value targets (HVT) list of the police — identified as Franz Verrill Suaso, 18, of Sitio Quiot, Barangay Pardo, Cebu City; and Richard Otlong Cabras, 45,  of Sitio Alumnos, Barangay Basak San Nicholas, Cebu City — were arrested in the drug bust with at least 650 grams of suspected shabu (crystal meth) in their possession valued at P4,420,000.

The third arrested suspect, Clark Jerome Soroño Arañas, 20, from Sitio Antipolo, Barangay Linao-lipata, Minglanilla, Cebu, was allegedly a regular drug buyer, police said.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Marlu Conag, head of the Provincial Intelligence Branch (PIB) of the Cebu Police Provincial Office (CPPO), told CDN Digital that these suspects had been under surveillance for about a month and were located by the authorities based on the information given by previously arrested individuals.

Conag revealed that from the information they have gathered from previously arrested drug suspects, the CPPO has now created a matrix of possible drug personalities operating in Cebu.  The names of Suaso and Cabras are in the matrix, said Conag.

However, the other names in the matrix will remain confidential at this time as they are still conducting background information on the suspects on the list and how they are linked to newly arrested individuals, according to Conag.

Conag added he also could not divulge additional background on the arrested three men as they were still going to  conduct follow-up operations on other personalities linked to them.

The three suspects are now detained at the PIB detention facilities in Sitio Sudlon, Barangay Lahug, Cebu City. /elb