Police seize P8M shabu from vendor

CEBU, Philippines - In another major victory against illegal drug trade, at least P8 million worth of suspected shabu was seized by police from a fish vendor in a buy-bust operation in Barangay Sawang Calero yesterday dawn.

Operatives of the City Intelligence Branch arrested Roger Roxas, 25, as soon as he handed over a huge pack of shabu to a poseur-buyer.

He further yielded 26 other packs, which all amounted to P7.8 million.

Chief Insp. Romeo Santander, chief of CIB of the Cebu City Police Office, said the latest haul of illegal drugs was so far their biggest this year.

Santander described Roxas as a level one drug pusher, although the suspect is not a known drug personality and is not even on the watchlist of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-7.

Santander said three days before the operation, they received information that a big shabu supply would arrive in Cebu. They then learned that Roxas was the recipient of the drugs.

“Bag-o ni siya na ‘player.’ Wala man siya sa atong list of drug personalities,” said Santander.

The CIB chief further said they then arranged a transaction with Roxas and pretended to buy one huge pack of shabu worth P300,000.

After sealing the “transaction” and after getting instruction from their superior, CCPO director Mariano Natu-el, Jr., CIB operatives and police officers from Taboan Police Station led by Santander proceeded to Roxas’ house along Gen. Gines Street at past 3 a.m.

One of the policemen acted as a poseur-buyer.

As soon as Roxas received the marked money, he was immediately surrounded by police.

Police seized 26 other packs of suspected shabu weighing over a kilo, a caliber .45 Colt pistol, two magazines, and 23 live ammunitions from Roxas’ house.

Roxas, a worker at a dried fish store in Tabo-an Public Market, said the gun was just pawned to him by a drug client.

He claimed that he started the illegal drug trade in February, lured by the huge amount of money it generates.

As a dried fish vendor, he said he would just earn P600 a week, way below the P1,000 to P3,000 he earns for every drug transaction.

He claimed he did not know the source of shabu, saying that someone would just deliver it to his house.

But Santander said they have already identified the source of the drugs but are withholding his name pending follow up investigation.

A charge for illegal drug selling and possession will be filed against Roxas, who is now detained at the CCPO stockade, while the seized drugs are being brought to the PNP Crime Laboratory for examination.

NBI arrests four

Meanwhile, the National Bureau of Investigation-7 yesterday arrested one of the personalities under the watchlist of the PDEA.

Zenaida Amplayo, 58, a resident of San Roque, Mambaling, Cebu City, was arrested by virtue of a search warrant issued by Regional Trial Court Executive Judge Silvestre Maamo.

Lawyer Larry Dominquez, agent on case, said before Amplayo’s arrest, they conducted a test buy operation around 7 a.m.

Two hours later, he said they then implemented the warrant that led to the arrest of Amplayo and three others identified as Bryan Amplayo and spouses Giovanni and Pifer Gutierrez.

The NBI agents were also able to recover two small packs of shabu and more than P20,000 cash.

Amplayo admitted that poverty forced her to engage in illegal drug business. — With Mylen Manto/LPM (FREEMAN)