Teacher arrested in buy-bust in Sirao

Police in Cebu City arrested two drug suspects on May 13, 2020 at Barangay Sirao, Cebu City | Contributed photos

CEBU CITY, Philippines – Police in Cebu City arrested two drug suspects, including a public school teacher, in a buy-bust operation on Wednesday evening, May 13, 2020, in Barangay Sirao here.

P340,000 worth of illegal drugs was confiscated from Gary James Dela Cerna, 39, from Sitio Tawagan in Barangay Sirao, and Joliber Leyson, 23, from Sitio Luyo, Barangay Adlaon.

Both were apprehended in Sitio Tawagan in Barangay Sirao, one of the city’s hinterland villages, at 8:45 p.m. on Wednesday, May 13, 2020.

Initial reports from the city police’s Drug Enforcement Unit (DEU) that Dela Cerna, who works as a school teacher, is also considered as a “high-value individual” drug pusher.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Randy Korret, chief of the City Mobile Force Company (CMFC), said the police have been monitoring Dela Cerna’s activities ‘for quite a long time’.

“On the evening of his arrest, we received information that he is still selling illegal drugs even if there’s a pandemic going on. That’s why we conducted a buy-bust operation,” Korret said.

The CMFC assisted the city’s DEU in locating the whereabouts of the two suspects in the city’s mountain barangays.

Dela Cerna was suspected of peddling illegal drugs in the neighboring barangays of Sirao. /bmjo