MAN CAUGHT CARRYING DRUGS ON BOARD SHIP
Suspect says he gets his supply of Nubain from a source in Barangay Kamagayan, Cebu City
The Cebu Port Police intercepted a passenger who was bound for Tagbilaran City, Bohol after 79 ampules of Nubain were seized from his possession.
The man was identified as Jose Katalbas, 49, who hails from Upper Katipunan St., Mansasa District, Tagbilaran.
“We received an intelligence report from the Drug Enforcement Group of the police that this personality has been shipping Nubain weekly to Bohol. We were also alarmed by him because he was a passenger but he attempted to pass through the restricted operational area that’s only for port workers,” Insp. Vincent Castrodes, chief operations of tjhe Cebu Port Police, said.
Katalbas was intercepted by the port police when authorities noticed his suspicious movements after he tried to pass through the pier in another area, away from the screening machine.
“If he had passed through the terminal, the Nubain would have been detected because of the frisking and screening. He would’ve had a hard time,” Castrodes said.
Katalbas reportedly hid the contraband in his socks.
Castrodes said that Katalbas told authorities that the Nubain came from Barangay Kamagayan and that he bought it for P200 each.
But when in Bohol, the regulated painkiller goes for P500 per ampule.
Katalbas will be facing charges for violating RA 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.