2 Lorega residents nabbed with P360k worth of ‘shabu’

Drugs traced from a supplier at the Cebu City Jail

Cebu City police confiscated illegal drugs and an unlicensed firearm from two men during a buy-bust operation in Barangay Luz late night on Monday, June 7. | Photo from CCPO-CIU

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Policemen in Cebu City confiscated 53 grams of suspected shabu which they traced from a supplier who is now detained at the Cebu City Jail.

The illegal drugs were confiscated from the possession of two men who are residents of Barangay Lorega and who were arrested in a buy-bust operation along Cabantan Street in Barangay Luz late night on Monday, June 7.

The arrested individuals were identified as Rodjie Lambo, 21, and Cesar Dublin, 22.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Randy Caballes, head of the Cebu City Police Office Intelligence Unit, said the drugs was worth at least P360, 000.

He said they also confiscated an unlicensed .38 caliber revolver with two live ammunition from the suspects.

Caballes said that about 70 to 80 percent of the drugs that they confiscated in their recent operation were sourced from the city jail, a concern that they are now trying to address in coordination with the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP).

“Sa mga dakop nga mamention ang sa city jail, naa sa mga 70-80%, ang nag command ha, ang nag direct or owner sa item,” he said.

(The city jail is always mentioned in our recent operations as the source of about 70 to 80 percent of the confiscated items.)

Caballes said that shipments for Cebu are coursed through individuals who are now detained at the city jail.  They are the ones who contact their own people for the local distribution of illegal drugs.

They communicate with the use of cellphone, he added.

Caballes said this is proof that illegal activities continue to proliferate at the jail facility in Barangay Kalunasan despite the series of greyhound operations that were conducted in the past months.

READ: P1.1M worth of drugs seized in Cebu City jail raid

Superintendent Jose Abueva, the Cebu City Jail warden, said they are coordinating with the police in their ongoing investigation.

Abueva said congestion at the jail premise and their lack in manpower are two major considerations in their campaign to already end the smuggling of contraband into the facility.

READ: Abueva: We don’t have a perfect facility

On Saturday, policemen in Lapu-Lapu City also confiscated from the possession of two couriers, over a million worth of illegal drugs that were also sourced from an inmate.

READ: 2 men nabbed in Lapu-Lapu buy-bust with over a million worth of ‘shabu’

Suspects Joan “Chony” Alce, 31, and Orvel Castro, 31, are from Barangay Suba in Cebu City but they would frequent the Sangi New Road in Barangay Pajo in Lapu-Lapu City to sell drugs.

Just like Alce and Castro, Lambo was also arrested earlier for a drug-related offense.

Caballes said that Lambo was jailed on April 18, 2019, but was released from detention on November 5, 2020, after he agreed to plea bargain.

Lambo and Dublin, he said, are able to dispose of 50 to 100 grams of shabu per week to buyers in Barangays Luz and Lorega.

They were placed under surveillance for two weeks prior to the conduct of the buy-bust operation at about 11 p.m. on Monday.

The two drug suspects are currently detained at the CCPO detention facility while police prepare for the filing of appropriate charges against them. / dcb