Sisters fall in drug busts, yield several shabu packs

CEBU, Philippines - Police arrested two sisters and seized from them close to P100,000 worth of suspected shabu in a simultaneous buy-bust operation in Barangay Ermita, Cebu City past 9 p.m. Monday.

Suspects Ester Flores Cabando, 54, and her elder sister, Ornecita Flores, Cabugason, 60, also yielded drug paraphernalia and P50,000 cash believed to be proceeds from their illegal drug activities.

Carbon police arrested Cabando and Cabugason by virtue of a search warrant issued against them respectively by Judge Gilbert Moises and Judge Wilfredo Navarro of the Regional Trial Court.

Chief Inspector Noel Lomente, Carbon Police Station chief, said that prior to the operations, they placed the sisters under surveillance for almost two months and made a test-buy twice.

Lomente said that after bringing the drug samples to the Regional Crime Laboratory, they applied for a search warrant against the suspects.

During the operation, Carbon police split into two teams and simultaneously conducted buy-bust operations against the suspects in their respective residences.

Cabugason was soon arrested after she handed over a small pack of suspected shabu worth P200 to a policeman who acted as poseur-buyer.

With the presence of the media and barangay officials, the police implemented the search warrant and raided Cabugason’s house.

Inside, three large, five medium-size and four small packs of suspected shabu with an estimated value of P41,300, P470 believed to be proceeds from the trade, and several drug paraphernalia were recovered.

The police also confiscated a small bucket full of P1 coins, which Cabugason claimed to be proceeds from an Internet café shop where she works as the caretaker.

The suspect admitted to selling drugs, saying she started two months ago in order to support the family of her children who are imprisoned for selling illegal drugs too.

Cabando, on the other hand, almost escaped after the buy-bust operation.

While handing over a shabu pack worth P500 to a poseur-buyer while inside her house, the suspect’s hand was held tightly by the police decoy, but she managed to set free.

She tried to escape through a secret passage located under their sink but the police already knew her escape route and assigned an operative in the area to block her.

Since the house door was duplicated with an iron door, police officers had to climb through the window on the second floor to enter the house.

Three large packs, 14 medium packs, and five small packs of suspected shabu believed to be around P43,300 and several drug paraphernalia were recovered inside.

Police also recovered the P500 buy-bust money and P47,050 cash.

Cabando refused to comment when asked by the media. — (FREEMAN)