Two men linked to Kerwin drug gang nabbed in Bohol

Undated photo of Rolan Espinosa alias Kerwin. (RADYO INQUIRER/DZIQ)

Two alleged underlings of suspected drug lord Kerwin Espinosa were arrested during a buy-bust operation in Tagbilaran City in Bohol on Tuesday afternoon.

Victor Aguilar, 36, and Marlowe Dano, 25, both of Balilihan town also in Bohol, were detained at the National Bureau of Investigation stockage in Tagbilaran pending the filing of charges for illegal possession of drugs and firearms against them.

Lawyer Rennan Augustus Oliva, NBI-Bohol head, said the suspects were members of the Espinosa drug ring that operated in Eastern Visayas and parts of Central Visayas.
Their bosses, he added, were men of Espinosa, son of Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr.

Kerwin was recently arrested in Abu Dhabi after months of hiding while Espinosa Sr. was also being held by the Albuera police.

Aguilar and Dano “have a supervisor here who is directly in contact with Kerwin,” said Oliva. “This is a very big group.”

Aguilar, however, denied he knew Kerwin, saying he just started selling shabu on Tuesday. But he refused to name his supplier whom he claimed was from Marawi City.

Lawyer Arcelito Albao, NBI-Bohol supervising agent, said the two were under surveillance for the past weeks after the NBI received reports of the duo’s illegal drug trade
in the province.

“We talked to some witnesses and one of them said they were part of Kerwin’s group. The transaction was done through phone and money transfer,” he said.

After a buy-bust operation was planned, an undercover NBI agent was made to pose as a buyer to buy a pack of shabu (methamphetamine) from the suspects worth P1,000.

At about 5 p.m. on Tuesday, the suspects went to a money transfer facility on Zamora Street near the Dao Integrated Bus Terminal to send money to someone in Marawi City and at the same time to meet the poseur buyer.

When the suspects realized it was a sting operation, they hurriedly ran to their motorcycle (with no plate number). But in their haste, Aguilar lost control of his motorcycle, which fell on its side. Aguilar and Dano suffered bruises on their faces after they were slammed on the ground.

Albao said their agents recovered from the suspects two pistols loaded with ammunition, one small strip and 14 big sachets of suspected shabu weighing 70.6 grams with an estimated value of P300,000.

Albao admitted that illegal drugs remained widespread in the province despite their intensified operations. He said that while there was demand for the illegal substance in Bohol, big-time shabu suppliers would continue operations.

He, however, said he was confident that they would eventually stamp out the illegal drug activities in the province.