TAPPED COPS
Widow of ‘drug lord’ caught in Buaya
The real question here is where did they get the frequency? Why do they have the frequency of the Lapu-Lapu City Police Station? PDEA 7 DIRECTOR YOGI FILEMON RUIZ
PDEA 7 arrests Janice Rafols Godinez and her husband Manuel Jr.; Janice was the wife of Joel "Tongol" Nodalo, who was killed by an unidentified assailant in Bohol in 2005 Seized in the couple's house were 3 twoway radio transceiver walkie-talkies, a big pack and six medium packs of shabu with an estimated worth of P6 million and a KG-9 submachine gun with 14 live bullets Janice says they get their drugs from the Cebu City Jail in Barangay Kalunasan
Drug pushers have stepped up their game as shown by the ex-wife of a slain drug lord and her new husband, who used hand-held radios they bought online to tap into the police's signal during raids.
This was discovered by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) 7 after they arrested 36-year-old Janice Rafols Godinez, alias Janice Nodalo, and Manuel Parba Godinez Jr., 33, in Barangay Buaya, Lapu-Lapu City last Friday night.
"They monitored the frequency of the police units. We also don't know yet if they monitored ours, too," said PDEA 7 Director Yogi Filemon Ruiz.
The three portable two-way radio transceiver walkie-talkies will be sent to the agency's digital forensics to extract frequencies of police units that the couple may have tapped.
"The real question here is
where did they get the frequency? Why do they have the frequency of the Lapu-Lapu Police Station?" Ruiz asked.
It's possible that it was an inside job, he said, and they will go after whoever it is. "That is a betrayal to the government," he added.
PDEA 7 will also coordinate with the Police Regional Office 7 to identify the culprit.
In an interview, Manuel denied that they used the radios to tap the police's frequency.
"We bought it from Lazada because my son wants it as a toy," he said.
The radios were selling for P800 and above at Lazada.com, an online shopping website.
Manuel also allegedly harassed his neighbors in Sitio Saac with a KG-9 submachine gun that was also confiscated.
The couple was caught in a buy-bust last Friday at 9:30 p.m. with one kilo of shabu that has an estimated worth of P6 million, or P11.8 million in the Dangerous Drugs Board value.
Ruiz said that Janice continued her deceased husband Joel Nodalo's drug trade after his death.
Nodalo was a big-time drug lord and the head of a robbery gang until he was killed in Buenavista, Bohol in 2005 by an unidentified assailant.
He was a local contact of the Ozamis-based Kuratong Baleleng robbery gang.
In an interview, Janice said that they only had 25 grams of drugs and denied owning the other 975 grams.
She also denied contacting her dead husband's drug contacts because it made Manuel angry.
Janice and Manuel are considered Level 2 high-value targets, who could dispose of three to four kilos of shabu per week.
Janice was the niece of drug lord Jesusimo “Titots” Dequitos, who was killed in a PDEA operation last Jan. 13.
Manuel, a former overseas Filipino worker, worked as a crane operator for the Petronas Towers in Malaysia before he was arrested by the City Intelligence Branch of Mandaue City.
He sold drugs after that to support his family.
Janice said they get their drugs from a certain "Juvy" in the Cebu City Jail in Barangay Kalunasan.
"We just call him and it gets delivered to us," she said.
The Godinezes will be charged with violating Sections 5, 11 and 12 of Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.