Catmon mayor’s brother nabbed
Police arrested a brother of Catmon Mayor Dan Jusay during a raid in Barangay Flores, Catmon town, northern Cebu on Tuesday morning.
The arrest of Jover Jusay, 41, came after he yielded an unlicensed caliber .45 pistol with seven live ammunition when a search warrant was served at his residence.
Police Senior Inspector Nazareno Emia, deputy chief of Provincial Intelligence Branch, said Jover is considered as a high-value target in the provincial level.
Jover is allegedly connected to Jennifer Mercader, a barangay captain in the neighboring Borbon town who was arrested for illegal possession of firearms and suspected shabu last September 2.
Emia said it was Mercader who revealed Jover’s illegal activities.
Jover allegedly played on and off in the illegal drug trade not only in Catmon but also in neighboring municipalities, taking his supply from Mercader.
“He (Mercader) divulged Jover’s connection to him so we conducted (monitoring) regarding drugs and illegal possession of firearms. Eventually, we found out that he had unlicensed firearms so we applied for a search warrant,” Emia said.
The search warrant was issued by Executive Judge Jacinto Fajardo of Regional Trial Court Branch 66 in Talisay City.
Emia also revealed that Jover, with the encouragement of his mayor brother, was among the first batch of drug surrenderers in Catmon during the early stages of President Duterte’s war against drugs.
WON’T TOLERATE
Sought for a comment on his brother’s arrest, Mayor Jusay said his family will not pay for his brother’s bail if the case against him would be bailable.
The mayor added that he will only get a lawyer once a formal complaint would be filed against Jover.
“Maayo nang patilawon sa iyang binuhatan. Wala man na namo gi-tolerate,” he said.
Jover is the youngest in a brood of six.
However, Mayor Jusay did not agree with the “high-value target” tag leveled against his brother because Jover does not reportedly have work and lacks financial capacity to operate bigtime.
He added that Jover does not have a record with the police, except for being a drug surrenderer in 2016.
“Wala man na siya’y kwarta. Ako pa man gani ang naggasto para sa iyang upat ka anak,” the mayor said.
Jover’s three sons and one daughter are currently in the custody of the mayor since their mother is working the city.
During the search yesterday, PIB operatives were unable to recover illegal drugs from the suspect.
Emia said there was a possibility that the suspect may have sensed the police’s arrival.
The town of Catmon lies about 55 kilometers north of Cebu City.