Common-law couple in Danao City are arrested after they are caught with P3.9 million worth of suspected shabu during a buy-bust operation in Barangay Poblacion this city at 12:50 a.m., of April 12, 2020. | Photo Courtesy of Danao City Police
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Drug dealers, who see Danao City as a potential area to ply their illegal trade because of its two ports and mountain areas, better think twice about it.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Maribel Getigan, Danao City Police chief, gave this warning to drug dealers amid the arrest of a common-law couple (live in partners), who were caught today, April 12, 2020, with P3.9 million worth of suspected shabu in the city.
“They should never try the police authorities here because if they work hard, we work harder. If they think they can get away (with selling illegal drugs here), then they better think twice,” said Getigan.
Getigan’s warning came after the Danao City policemen arrested Josephus Tapayan, 33, and his common-law partner, Liezel Surigao, 20, in a buy-bust operation in Barangay Poblacion this city at 12:50 a.m. of April 12, 2020.
Some 575 grams of suspected shabu or more than half a kilo of suspected shabu with an estimated Dangerous Drugs Board value of P3.9 million were confiscated from the couple during the operation.
Getigan said that they had being monitoring the activities of Tapayan, who is from Barangay Poblacion, for two weeks after they received information about his illegal activities from previously arrested drug suspects and from citizens in the barangay.
Read more: Police: Man nabbed with P31M drugs is not a Grab driver
Tapayan’s arrest came a few days after the arrest of a resident of Carcar City in southern Cebu, who was caught with P31 million worth of suspected shabu on April 8, 2020 in Carcar City.
Read more: Three persons caught with shabu at Cebu City checkpoint
Read more: Lapu-Lapu busts: P98K shabu seized in 3 hours
These also came a few days after the arrests of drug dealers in Lapu-Lapu, Mandaue, Cebu and Talisay Cities and in Minglanilla town.
Read more: 6 men jailed on Black Saturday for possession of 50 grams of shabu
Read more: With ‘no’ relief goods yet, ‘hungry man’ turns to drugs
Partner’s alibi
Meanwhile in the Danao City drug bust, Surigao of Barangay Pari-an, Cebu City, Tapayan’s common-law wife, denied knowing about Tapayan’s illegal drug activities.
“She said she only fell in love with the wrong person and had no knowledge about his transactions,” said Getigan.
But Surigao admitted she was using illegal drugs for two months now, which according to Getigan would invalidate her denial about not knowing about her lover’s illegal drug activities because they had been living in one roof for four months now.
Danao City cops dig deeper
Getigan said they were investigating if Tapayan had any links or was a member of an illegal drugs group.
She said that they were not discounting this possibility because Tapayan had been jailed before in 2016 for a drug case and he had been able to post bail sometime in 2018.
“He has a lot of police records so we will dig more about his background,” said Getigan.
The couple were detained at the Danao City Police Station detention cell pending the filing of charges./dbs