Cop caught with P9-million cocaine in Pasig

MANILA, Philippines - A policeman was arrested during a drug bust in Pasig City Tuesday by operatives of the Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force (AIDSOTF), who allegedly confiscated four kilos of high-grade cocaine with a street value of P9 million from him.

Senior Police Officer 1 Alexander Estabillo, 49, assigned to the intelligence and investigation division of the Aviation Security Group, did not resist arrest when he was cornered by AIDSOTF agents along Las Piestas Drive in Barangay Ugong at about 11:15 p.m. Tuesday.

Aside from the cocaine, AIDSOTF agents also confiscated from Estabillo a 9mm Glock pistol with a magazine loaded with 16 bullets and a white Mitsubishi Strada.

Chief Inspector Roque Merdegia, chief of AIDSOTF’s legal investigation division, said an informant walked into their office at Camp Crame last June 13 claiming that a policeman was offering to sell cocaine to a prospective buyer.

According to Merdegia, AIDSOTF personnel conducted a “test buy” and purchased P1,000 worth of cocaine from Estabillo in Makati City. The Philippine National Police Crime Laboratory confirmed the sample was indeed high-grade cocaine.

A team headed by Superintendent Ismael Fajardo, of the Special Operations Unit 3, arranged a meeting with Estabillo and ordered P2 million worth of cocaine.

“We showed him genuine cash and he claimed that he has four kilos but he intends only to sell a kilo per transaction,” Merdegia told The STAR.

Fajardo’s team arrested Estabillo after he handed over a kilo of cocaine for P1.8 million “boodle” or money.

Merdegia said initial investigation showed that the cocaine came from Borongan, Samar, where a Chinese vessel reportedly unloaded the illegal drugs in the high seas to avoid getting caught with the cocaine.

Estabillo “claimed that somebody asked him to sell the stuff. But he declined to name the source of the illegal drugs,” Merdegia said.

AIDSOTF commander Deputy Director General Eduardo Acuna ordered the filing of appropriate charges against Estabillo, who is currently detained at Camp Crame.