CEBU CITY, Philippines — At least P7.4 million worth of illegal drugs were seized from a Cebu City resident during a buy-bust operation conducted in Sitio Soong 2, Barangay Mactan, Lapu-Lapu City at around 2:15 p.m. on Tuesday, November 16, 2021.
Police Lieutenant Noah Añana, Deputy Chief of the CIU identified the suspect as Philip Abellar, 36, whom police tagged as a high-value individual. Añana said that Abellar is a resident of Magsaysay Street in Barangay Pasil, Cebu City.
“Based sa among pagpangutana niya,wala ni syay trabaho, mao gyud ni iyang modus, mag transact, sugoon siya sa iyang amo muari diri sa Lapu-Lapu ug sa uban nga lugar,” said Añana.
He added that they have been receiving reports of Abellar’s illegal drug-trading activity for quite a while now which resulted in this afternoon’s operation. Añana said that it took them a month of case build-up before they closed a transaction with the suspect.
Based on their initial investigation, Añana said that they have found out that Abellar sources his illegal drugs from somebody inside the jail.
Currently, Añana said they have yet to validate where this ‘jail’ is located.
Añana further said that the suspect claimed that he was just new in the illegal drug trade.
The police official said that the suspect was a drug courier, whose areas of distribution cover Lapu-Lapu City, Mandaue City, Cebu City, and some areas in Cebu province.
Añana also said that the suspect would prefer to commute in public transportation to avoid being noticed.
With over 1.1 kilos of shabu confiscated from the suspect, Añana considers Abellar as a big player in the illegal drug trade.
As of this posting, Abellar is being detained at the detention cell of LLCPO pending the filing of appropriate charges.
Añana said that their follow-up operations are ongoing to identify the suspect’s possible cohorts and source of illegal drugs.
READ: P41 .5 million ‘shabu’ seized, 3 nabbed in two buy-bust operations in Lapu-Lapu City