‘I started selling shabu after losing job as traffic enforcer’

Alleged drug lord Franz Sabalones admitted he started selling illegal drugs after he lost his job as a Cebu City traffic enforcer 12 years ago.

From being a small-scale trafficker, he became one of the largest distributors in Central Visayas.

Sabalones, in his judicial affidavit, admitted giving P507,000 to some personnel of the Police Regional Office 7 and to an agent of Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency 7 as protection for his men.

A police colonel and other police officers received weekly payola of P200,000. Sabalones’ bagmen delivered the money. On Aug. 7, 2016, Sabalones surrendered to Police Director General Ronald dela Rosa at Camp Crame, after President Rodrigo Duterte announced alleged drug protectors, including his brother San Fernando Vice Mayor Fralz Sabalones.

On the following day, Sabalones was presented by Dela Rosa to the media. He admitted he was formerly an “underling” of Central Visayas’ top drug lord Jeffery “Jaguar” Diaz and assumed control of Cebu’s drug trade after the latter was killed by the police in an operation in Las Piñas City on June 17, 2016. He was turned over to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, where he executed his affidavits.

Sabalones was born on April 27, 1977.

In his judicial affidavit, sabalones said he started using illegal drugs in 1989 at age 12. Nine years later, he was caught and underwent rehabilitation.

After his release, he worked as a traffic enforcer of then Cebu City Traffic Operations Management in 2003 until 2005.

In 2003, he met a certain Roland Abelgas, who offered him big- ger transactions. From 25 grams, Sabalones distributed 500 grams for two to three weeks. The man was connected to Diaz.

In 2005, he engaged in smalltime sale of shabu supplied by neighbors and other people.

Roy Velez, an inmate of National Bilibid Prison, introduced Sabalones to another inmate, Willy Yang, who reportedly supplied him with a kilo of shabu. Then it was followed by three kilos, later 15 kilos.

In March 2016, a P1.3 million per kilo worth of shabu was delivered to Sabalones in Cebu. Payments were made through deposits of a private bank account every time the supply sold out.

Ten kilos were delivered right away. If Sabalones ordered more than 10 kilos, the delivery would take about two to three days. The shabu were vacuum-packed.

Girls were used to deliver the contraband outside a mall. None of the deliveries was apprehended by police.

A kilo of shabu sold out in five days. Payments for bigger supplies were made on installments. The orders were placed through phone calls directly to the inmate since orders through text messages were not allowed.

The account number was sent through text if the cell phone number was new. Sabalones ordered 100 kilos from Yang for two years.