The Cebu Police Provincial Office (CPPO).
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Is Joven Silong, the alleged ‘drug courier’ who was killed during a buy-bust operation in Barangay Catarman, Cordova, a member of a large drug syndicate?
READ: Man with 3 kilos of ‘shabu’ killed in buy-bust operation in Cordova town
Police Colonel Robert Lingbawan, the new acting director of Cebu Police Provincial Office (CPPO), wants to know.
Quoting their initial investigation, Lingbawan believes Silong had connections to large drug groups who are already in Muntinlupa or to personalities currently detained in the New Bilibid Prison.
READ: P20.5M ‘shabu’ seized, HVT killed in Cordova, Toledo drug busts
Lingbawan also believed that Silong was not new to this illegal activity. He said that it is impossible for one to be a newbie and to be in possession of no less than three kilograms of illegal drugs.
“Ganoong kalaki [confiscated drugs], normally this drug syndicate, hindi nila i tatrust sa hindi nila matagal na kasama ang ganong kalaki na drug,” Liimbawan said.
(Normally drug syndicates will not entrust such a huge quantity of illegal drugs to a newbie. They will only do so to someone who has already earned their trust.)
Lingbawan also said that the three kilos of suspected ‘shabu’ confiscated from Silong was unlike any of those that they have intercepted in previous operations.
“There is a great possibility na this is, maybe, a local product dahil sa itsura nya, or it can be nga na modify siya, “ Lingbawan added.
(There is a possibility that this is, maybe, a local product because of its appearance [brownish in color], or it can be that this has undergone modification already.)
Confiscated ‘shabu’ from Joven Silong during the buy-bust operation in Barangay Catarman in Cordova town on Monday, April 12.
Despite large quantities of illegal drugs that they have confiscated lately, Lingbawan said that these were not manufactured in the region, saying there is no shabu laboratory in Central Visayas.
“We did not monitor any laboratory in our area of jurisdiction, pero may mga information tayo na somewhere outside the region. We are coordinating with other intelligence units with that regard,” Lingbawan said
Last Monday, on his first day as acting OIC of CPPO, was also the day that operatives seized suspected shabu worth P20.4 million from Silong who is considered by the police as a high-value target.
Lingbawan warned those who continue to peddle illegals drugs that in time they will surely be caught as he has instructed his men to intensify their anti-drugs campaign in the province.
READ: Lingbawan is acting director of Cebu Police Provincial Office