Packs of suspected shabu worth at least P50,000 were seized when police raided the house of a man believed to be involved in the illegal drug trade in barangay Ermita, Cebu City yesterday noon.
Nonito “Egloy” Montemayor, the subject of the raid, was able to escape just before the operatives of the Regional Intelligence Division (RID) and Regional Special Operation Group (RSOG) could effect an arrest.
Supt. Rex Derilo, deputy chief of RID, described Montemayor as a level two drug pusher capable of selling more than one kilo of shabu a week.
“The raid came after two weeks of surveillance,” Derilo told reporters.
Derilo said Montemayor found a chance to escape after he was alerted by his neighbors that the police were about to arrive.
The suspect’s house also had closed-circuit television cameras that allowed him to detect the police.
Police later found out that the house had a secret door on the second floor.
A search warrant issued by Regional Trial Court Judge Soliver Peras was used in the raid.
Aside from the packs of shabu, two .22 revolvers and several bullets were also seized in the house.
Derilo said yesterday’s operation was part of the their region-wide crackdown on people involved in the illegal drug trade.
Two weeks ago, police seized at least P5 million worth of illegal drugs in separate places in Mandaue and Cebu.
A separate drug operation led to the arrest of another suspected drug pusher in barangay Tangke, Talisay City.
Mamerlito Balansag, 29, was arrested in a buy-bust operation conducted by operatives of the Talisay police and Regional Anti-Drug Special Operation Team (RAIDSOT) of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7)
Balansag sold two packs of suspected shabu to a poseur-buyer in his house in sitio Galaxy, said Insp. Rodgene Fodutan of the Talisay City Police Station.
Balansag jumped out of a window in his bid to escape but police were able to corner him. Police seized 40 sachets of suspected shabu worth P4,000 which were kept in a hole beneath the stairs.
In an interview, Balansag admitted selling drugs to earn a living. The man has two children aged six and six months.