In Inayawan, Cebu City ‘Drug lord’ falls

CEBU, Philippines - One of the five alleged “drug lords” operating in Cebu City was arrested yesterday noon by the joint operatives of the City Intelligence Branch and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency during a buy-bust operation in Barangay Inayawan.

Darwin Tibay, who is reportedly capable of disposing of more than a kilo of shabu every week, fell into the dragnet after he sold a pack of shabu worth P1,000 to an undercover CIB operative in Sitio Torre.

"Marka Bahala," was CIB chief Supt. Romeo Santander’s description of the operation.

Santander said the suspect has been the subject in the previous operations but was very elusive.

According to Santander, he received information through text about Tibay's presence in Inayawan yesterday, prompting him to immediately organize a team to conduct buy-bust operation.

The law enforcers immediately swooped down on Tibay after he took the bait. The police recovered P70,000 worth of shabu in his possession. Tibay denied selling drugs.

He said he was just sleeping inside his house when the police came and arrested him. Tibay said that the illegal drugs supposedly confiscated from him were not his because he already stopped selling drugs a year ago.

He, however, admitted being a “drug lord” before but has stopped since the law enforcers targeted him.

Senior Supt. Marciano Batiancila, Cebu City Police Office officer-in-charge, said that the public can be assured that their campaign against illegal drugs will be intensified further.

He said that they will conduct more operations against bigtime drug pushers. He thanked the public for giving them information that are vital for the arrest of the drug pushers.

The police are now working on the arrest of four other “drug lords” operating in the city.

Tibay was once a subject of police operation in June 2014. He was able to elude arrest but his cohort, Henry Monterde, was arrested in possession of 24 kilos of dried marijuana leaves, 15,000 sticks of marijuana and 100 packs of shabu.

On March 6, 2015 he again eluded arrest in another drug operation but his alleged cohort, Darwin Saceda, was arrested. Four days later his brothers Nelson, 28, and Niel, 18, were arrested in possession of P20,000 worth of shabu.

Santander said that Tibay have pending drug charges in court but has no warrant of arrest yet. He, however, has pending arrest warrant for illegal possession of firearms.

Meanwhile, the Port Police in Cebu City have arrested two persons at Pier 1 for bringing illegal drugs yesterday afternoon.

Shin-o Isma Isa, of Maasin, Leyte was arrested after he tried to evade security check before boarding a vessel bound for Hilongos, Leyte.

Mark Sarol, 40, was also arrested two hours after Isa’s arrest after he was caught bringing a pack of suspected shabu and drug paraphernalia at the x-ray area.

Port Police Inspector Ador Rusiana said that Isa arrived past 2 p.m. As a matter of security protocol, all passengers are required to walk through a metal detector and submit themselves to physical frisking before getting their baggage from the x-ray conveyor. 

The x-ray operator allegedly noticed something was bulging in Isa’s pocket. He was asked to show it but the latter instead ran towards the door and threw a plastic away.

The plastic pack containing 26 sachets of shabu was recovered prompting the arrest of the suspect.

Two hours later the same x-ray operator frisked Sarol and recovered a pack of shabu and drug paraphernalia.

Rusiana has warned would be drug smugglers that the port is no longer an easy place to smuggle drugs because of the high level of security in place.

In fact, several arrests have been made already including the confiscation of P5 million worth of shabu earlier this year. —/FPL (FREEMAN)