P20-million shabu in downtown raid; couple arrested

Akilo  of suspected shabu with an estimated value of P20 million was seized from a couple in a buy-bust operation in downtown Cebu City last Friday afternoon.

Lemuel Abenoja,  21, and his live-in partner Liezel Gabatos, 20, were aboard a Hummer-type vehicle when they were  arrested at the corner of Colon and Leon Kilat Streets.

They  had just sold a  kilo of shabu which they handed to agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Central Visayas (PDEA-7) who posed as buyers.

Wardley Getalla, assistant director of PDEA-7, said the couple was aboard their vehicle when they turned over the big pack.

The suspects, who live in Cebu City,  had two cohorts but they were able to elude arrest.

Getalla said that when the two were arrested,  two men hurriedly drove off aboard a  Honda Civic sedan car parked nearby.

PDEA-7 tried to track down the two other accomplices but failed to locate them.

A one-week surveillance was conducted before the arrest was made.

PDEA-7 said the group operates mainly in Cebu City but also had customers from various towns in Cebu, Negros and Bohol.

The source of the illegal drugs has yet to be identified.

“They claimed that they were only told to deliver the illegal drugs but we consider them as part of the group and will file appropriate charges against them on Monday,” said Getalla.