2 killed in raid on ‘drug den’ with drivethrough
Authorities found a drug den that had a drive-through facility during a raid before daybreak Sunday in Barangay Manipis, Talisay City.
Two suspected drug personalities were killed in a shootout with police, while seven others were caught. Their alleged leader Gilbert Jabonita Traya escaped during the gunfire, through one of the facility’s several exists.
His alleged cohort Helen Joy Tabilon got caught, while Rubidel Gabiana and Jeffrey Himaya died after getting hit several times during a shootout with officers from an inter-agency team.
Two drug personalities were killed in a shootout with police, while seven others were caught in Campo 6, Barangay Manipis, Talisay City yesterday morning.
Anti-narcotics operatives discovered that the suspects, led by their alleged leader Gilbert Jabonita Traya, operated their drug den like a fast food chain.
It has a “drive through” and the customers do not have to get out of their vehicles to buy shabu, said Senior Insp. Alejandro Batobalonos, Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit (PDEU) chief.
The den also has a booby trap, a live wire connected to the fence, as well as several exits.
Traya escaped during the firefight. He is reportedly an associate of alleged big-time drug pusher Jerome Labitad, who escaped arrest in a previous drug bust.
The police, however, caught Traya’s alleged cohort Helen Joy Pongkol Tabilon, who had been included in the list of Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency 7’s high-value targets.
“Village officials are happy with our operation. The shabu trade in Manipis is rampant. It is little in Tangke,” said Batobalonos, referring to a coastal village in the city where several drug busts happened.
Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) Director Manuel Javier Abrugena said that Tabilon’s drug trafficking started in Tangke, but she transferred to Manipis after she became the police’s target.
Fatalities Rubidel Gabiana and Jeffrey Himaya succumbed to multiple gunshot wounds after they engaged the operatives from CPPO past 5 a.m.
Abrugena said the slain suspects were possibly involved in gun-for-hire activities or they were Tabilon’s enforcers, killing pushers who owed their boss money
Police Regional Office 7 Director Chief Supt. Debold Sinas lauded the CPPO operatives, saying there is no let down in their anti-illegal drugs campaign.
Several packs of shabu that weighed 22.92 grams and worth P270,456 were seized by operatives led by Provincial Intelligence Branch Chief Christopher Rey Natnat, Senior Insp. Nazarino Emia and Batobalonos.
Other suspects caught were Tabilon’s live-in partner Elederio Silaya Nadera, Himaya’s 17-yearold brother Jonathan, Albert Pongkol Baynos, Gilbert Baynos Herbias, Alvin Alfornon Dacumos and Jean Dacumos Barcelonya. They denied their involvement in the illegal drug trade.
Three units of .38 revolver loaded with bullets, a .45 pistol and drug paraphernalia were also recovered in the drug den.
Sinas said the firearms will be subjected to a ballistic examination to determine if these were used in previous incidents.