Arrested Medellin village chief is alleged distributor of illegal drugs

CEBU, Philippines - The chief of the Medellin Police Station divulged that the barangay captain arrested last Wednesday for alleged possession of unlicensed firearms and illegal drugs is a distributor of the said illegal substances in the Cebu province and that he received P2 million funds from a “backer.”

Insp. Bonifacio Arriesgado, chief of the Medellin Police, yesterday said that from the moment he assumed his post as the town’s police chief in February, he already received information that Marianito Yaun was involved in the distribution of illegal drugs.

Yaun, chairman of barangay Antipolo in the municipality of Medellin, and his brother-in-law Eldie Briones of barangay Kawit, also in the said town, were arrested by police after they were caught allegedly sniffing shabu inside a Ford Explorer past noon last Wednesday.

Arriesgado said that Yaun’s places of distribution include the whole of Cebu especially in the fourth district.

He said they had difficulty in monitoring Yaun’s illegal activities because he used to stay always in Cebu City, so they fed the information to the Provincial Intelligence Branch of the Cebu Provincial Police Office, the arresting officers.

The police chief further said they actually had a search warrant against Yaun but was pending in implementation because of the time they devoted for the firearm amnesty program since July to October, plus the fact that the suspect rarely stayed in Medellin.

Arriesgado said he received a report that someone is backing up Yaun in his illegal drugs trade.

He said that there were allegations that someone lent P2 million to Yaun as capital outlay for the said illegal activity.

Yaun allegedly owns a beach resort in Kawit. It was also learned that his constituents find him to be a good man. — Niña G. Sumacot/MEEV (FREEMAN NEWS)