Two men were arrested while assorted firearms and packs of suspected shabu worth close to P300,000 were seized in three separate raids last Monday morning in barangay Sta. Cruz, San Francisco town in Camotes Island, Cebu.
The subjects of the raids, Noli Sostino, Edmund Formentera and Michael Sostino, eluded arrests as police were only able to apprehend their alleged cohorts.
The three are neighbors in sitio Estampar.
Operatives of the Regional Special Operations Group of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas first went to the house of Sostino.
Chief Insp. Romeo Sentinta Jr. said as police approached the house, shots were fired at them.
A brief shootout ensued.
Police said Michael along with at least four persons fled. Police caught Michael’s wife in the house possessing 24 sachets of suspected shabu.
Recovered from the house were a .45 caliber pistol, a .357 cal. revolver, a 5.56 cal. revolver, a .22 cal. revolver and assorted ammunition. Also seized from the house were 20 packs believed to contain shabu.
Police proceeded to the house of Formentera where a grenade was found in a wooden gate believed to be a booby trap.
Formentera was no longer in the house when police swooped in. Arrested was Formentera’s cousin Regan Rica, who was caught possessing a .38 revolver.
Recovered in the house were a .45 caliber pistol and a plastic pack believed to contain shabu.
The third target was Michael’s cousin Noli but no one was around when police went to his house where a .38 revolver and a big pack of suspected shabu were recovered.