Five men arrested in drug operations

CEBU, Philippines – Police seized an estimated P153,000 worth of illegal drugs from a suspected Level 2 drug pusher in Barangay Casili, Consolacion on Wednesday evening.

Leniel Gerundio, 35, resident of the said place, was arrested in a joint operation of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and Consolacion police after barangay officials reported his illegal activities.

The team led by Senior Inspector Frank Rudolf Oriol of Consolacion Police Station then proceeded to the area.

With the use of a P1,000 marked money, Police Officer 1 Dennis Pepito pretended to be a customer and bought five small packs of shabu from the suspect.

Gerundio allegedly handed the packs to PO1 Pepito at the back of his house.

When the exchange was consummated, PO1 Pepito immediately touched his head, a signal for the back-up team to effect the arrest.

During arrest, police were able to seize from the suspect’s house one medium pack of shabu, 15 small packs of shabu, drug paraphernalia and the P1,000 marked money.

The suspect is presently detained at Consolacion Police Station pending the filing of appropriate charges against him.

In a separate incident, four persons were arrested by Opao Police Station operatives in Mandaue City during a buy-bust operation in Barangay Looc on Monday evening.

Renato Guanzon, 54, of Sitio Bantayan sa Hari, Barangay Looc; Brian Singson, 33, of Barangay Looc, Lapu-Lapu City; Anthony Bahio, 29, of Barangay Mactan, Lapu-Lapu City; and Kimberly Sampan, 18, of Sitio Bantayan sa Hari, Barangay Looc, Mandaue City were arrested in the residence of one of the suspects.

Guanzon has been the target of the buy-bust operation after it was found out during several weeks of surveillance that he was into illegal drug peddling.

A police decoy posed as police poseur buyer and used marked money to buy shabu from Guanzon.

Recovered from Guanzon were another eight small sachets and a medium-size pack of suspected shabu and the P200 marked money.

Three other persons who were at Guanzon’s house were also arrested.

Singson was found with two small plastic sachets believed to be shabu and three pieces of tin foils in his pocket.

Bahio possessed two small plastic sachets of suspected shabu. Though nothing was found from Sampan, he will still be filed with a case for visiting a drug den.

Senior Inspector Leolie Laturnas, chief of Opao Police Station, believed that Singson, Bahio and Sampan were customers of Guanzon. Guanzon did not disclose the exact address of his suppliers but said he just bought it in Barangay Pasil, Cebu City.

All four suspects are detained at Opao Police Station pending the filing of charges of illegal drugs against them.