Undying drug trade

When will people finally realize that this administration is dead serious in its war against illegal drugs? Here in Cebu, drug personalities seem to have forgotten that there’s a fatwa against them. Why else would anti-narcotics operatives continue to arrest them almost on a daily basis and seize thousands, sometimes, millions of pesos worth of shabu?

Heck, just last week, 36-year-old Gilbert Castro Zabate was caught trying to smuggle ampules of Nubain and a medium pack of shabu into the Cebu City Jail. He hid it inside him, if you know what I mean.

Also last week, the Pardo Police Station confiscated P1.18 million worth of shabu from Lyster Asenjo, 20, during a buy bust in Barangay Basak Pardo.

Then last Monday night, Eduardo “Lantoy” Piloto and Errol Labajo Fernandez were killed in a shootout with police in Barangay San Roque, Talisay City.

Piloto was a well-known supplier of illegal drugs in Barangay Tanke, also in Talisay, according to Talisay City Police Chief Marlu Conag.

Several weeks ago, Piloto reportedly fired several shots in Sitio Rattan in Tanke and was overheard shouting that he would kill any police officer he’d encounter.

No wonder the police didn’t hesitate to open fire when he and Fernandez pulled out their firearms during the drug bust. The two men’s companion Ronnie Domin didn’t resist arrest, and he is alive.

Now do you understand why the President is exasperated with the drug situation in Cebu? Every arrest, every drug haul is like a slap in his face.

Drugs can even be ordered online. That’s why authorities had a hard time trying to nab Reinhard Baring Moreno. The 29-year-old was using social media to peddle his wares.

His luck ran out last August. He was arrested during a buy bust in Barangay Sambag 2 in Cebu City. Shabu with an estimated worth of P6.5 million was found in his possession.

“Ang initial namo nga nakuha, ang nagplano sa tanan nga duwa gikan sa source padung aning nadakpan naa sa sulod sa city jail. Ang ilang distribution dili lang aning area namo, but sa gawas. Ang bag-o nga paagi nila mo-contact sila through social networking sites, mo-order sila

didto,” said Chief Insp. Ma. Theresa Macatangay, chief of the Abellana Police Station.

The month before, in July, Adel Villafuerte and his wife Jasmin were arrested with 1.2 kilos of shabu with an estimated street value of over P14 million in Barangay San Nicolas, Cebu City.

Unlike Piloto and Fernandez, Moreno and the Villafuertes are still alive.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that they should have been killed. But what will it take for these people to stop?