Suspect, a former seaman, escapes: P15M shabu seized

CEBU, Philippines - Over P15 million worth of suspected shabu was confiscated by the operatives of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-7 in Medellin town yesterday morning.

Senior Superintendent Marlon Tayaba, CIDG-7 chief, said at about 7:30 a.m., his men served the search warrant against former seaman John Niel Cabatingan, a resident of Sitio Proper, Barangay Lamintak Norte.

 "Detectives of CIDG7-SOT led by Police Senior Inspector Lirio Coral together with personnel of Medellin Police Station in coordination with Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-7 implemented search warrant for violation of Republic Act 9165 otherwise known as Comprehensive Dangerous s Drugs Act against John Niel Cabatingan," he said.

 However, the operatives failed to arrest Cabatingan who managed to flee before they arrived. Instead, they were able to recover 1.3 kilos of shabu from Cabatingan's residence.

 "We've been conducting surveillance for several occasions now. Maybe he was able to sense the arrival of our operatives so he escapes," Tayaba said, adding they were now conducting a hot pursuit operation against Cabatingan, alias Chamik.

 Tayaba said aside from the big packs of shabu, they were able to confiscate P33,000 cash believed to be proceeds from Cabatingan's illegal activity.

 Cabatingan was considered a level-one drug pusher in northern Cebu. He was in the business for quite some time, Tayaba said.

 Though Cabatingan was able to evade arrest, Tayaba was certain that no one tipped him off because he was not able to bring the evidence that they recovered.

 Complaints for violations of illegal possession of shabu and drug paraphernalia will be filed against Cabatingan before the Cebu Provincial Prosecutor's Office.

 Prior to the implementation of the search warrant yesterday, the Provincial Intelligence Branch operatives served three warrants of arrest to suspected drug pusher Ariel "Ayeng" Ortega in Lamintak Norte on Monday night.

 Ortega eluded arrest but Hanzel Valiente died after he tried to shoot it out with the police while Dominador Golisao Jr., Richard Pradilla, and Kurt Catana, believed to be Ortega's henchmen, surrendered to the police.

 Police later on recovered a Cobray sub-machine gun, a caliber 357 magnum revolver, and a caliber .38 magnum revolver from the suspects.

 Ortega reportedly sensed the presence of the police and escaped but the police have recovered P1.4 million worth of drugs, several firearms with bullets and money remittance receipts from his house.

 Valiente was shot by the police in the leg after he tried to engage in a firefight with them.

 He was brought to Severo Verallo Memorial District Hospital but the attending physician declared him dead on arrival.

 Valiente was placed under the watchlist of the town police for his alleged involvement in the illegal drug trade while Ortega is included on the PIB's priority list.

 Policemen are still conducting hot pursuit operation to capture Ortega.   The haul of CIDG this year was among the biggest in Cebu for the past two years.

However, it was the Provincial Intelligence Branch of the Cebu Police Provincial Office that scored the biggest after its operatives arrested a female suspected drug pusher and her brother-in-law during a buy-bust operation in San Remigio town in March last year.

The operation resulted in the confiscation of over P23 million worth of illegal drugs weighing at least two kilos.

Maribel Arcenal, 33, and brother-in-law Eduardo Arcenal, 45, of Sitio Calcalan, Barangay Poblacion, San Remigio were caught by the PIB operatives selling shabu inside a Mitsubushi Strada.

The two kilos of shabu was found in Maribel's shoulder bag. Eduardo was caught in possession of four medium packs of shabu. (FREEMAN)