P41.8M drug haul ‘part of missing shipment’
Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 Director Debold Sinas believes the P41.8 million worth of highgrade “shabu” seized during a drug bust in Barangay Sambag 2, Cebu City last Nov. 30 may have come from the magnetic lifters found by anti-narcotics agents in Luzon.
Sinas said they will coordinate with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in the investigation.
Four magnetic lifters that may have contained tons of illegal drugs worth P6.8 billion slipped past the Bureau of Customs. These were later found empty in General Mariano Alvarez town in Cavite last Aug. 9. Dogs detected traces of illegal drugs inside.
PDEA Director General Aaron Aquino earlier said the magnetic lifters were similar to those intercepted last Aug. 7 at the Manila International Container Terminal, which contained P4.3 billion worth of shabu.
Sinas said the PDEA has the capability to confirm if the shabu seized in Sambag 2 came from the magnetic lifters.
Arrested during the operation were Michael Carabaña, 28; Jemuel Enrile, 24; Agustin Quijano, 34; and Arnold Arquiza, 37.
The police official, who described Carabaña and his cohorts as big-time couriers, said the suspects’ admission that the drugs came from Luzon only bolstered his suspicion.
Carabaña reportedly started getting drug shipments last August. Investigation also showed that the suspects received 10 kilos of “shabu” from their supplier, but operatives of Guadalupe Police Station confiscated only 3.8 kilos.
For his part, PDEA 7 Director Wardley Getalla said they are waiting for the results of the investigation conducted by the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) on the suspects.
A laboratory test, he said, can determine if the illegal drugs came from the magnetic lifters or from another supplier.
Guadalupe and Pardo police operatives were awarded by CCPO Director Royina Garma for their successful drug busts during the flag-raising ceremony on Monday, Dec. 3.