SHABU WORTH P3.7M SEIZED
Jovanie Rabago Cabrillos and his live-in partner Shera Mae Gabito Abatayo are arrested inside their rented apartment in Talisay Abatayo claims she only found out about Cabrillos’ involvement in the drug trade three months after they moved in together In
A garbage collector and his common-law wife were arrested with P2 million worth of drugs during a buy-bust in Sitio San Miguel, Barangay Linao, Talisay City.
Close to the same amount was confiscated in Cebu City in separate One Time Big Time (OTBT) operations.
In Talisay, the operation was conducted at 6:45 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 24, by operatives of the Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit, headed by Senior Insp. Alejandro Batobalonos, and the Provincial Intelligence Branch.
Arrested were Jovanie Rabago Cabrillos, 28, and his live-in partner Shera Mae Gabito Abatayo, 27.
Batobalonos told Superbalita Cebu they had been monitoring the couple for two weeks before they conducted the buy-bust.
The police, in disguise, tried to buy shabu worth P60,000 from the couple. When they handed the suspected shabu, police immediately collared Cabrillos and Abatayo.
Recovered from the two in their rented house in Barangay Linao were seven large packs of shabu weighing 175 grams with an estimated worth of P2,065,000, based on the value presented by the Dangerous Drugs Board.
Also recovered was the buybust money worth P4,950, a digital weighing scale and sniffing paraphernalia.
Batobalonos said Cabrillos and Abatayo are known to do large transactions. They refused to name their supplier, claiming they only talked to the latter on the phone.
During the course of the investigation, another person was identified to be in cahoots with the couple.
The owner of the apartment Cabrillos and Abatayo are renting told police that a man paid two months worth of rent last Oct. 23. The couple reportedly moved in last Nov. 5.
The landlady said she was not aware of the couple’s illegal business since they were gone during the day and only returned at night.
Abatayo used to work in the barangay hall. She reportedly found out about his involvement in the illegal drug trade three months after they moved in together. He delivered the drugs and collected the money.
Cabrillos reportedly promised Abatayo that he would ask the group for permission to leave so they could start anew in Mindanao.
Abatayo denied any involvement in the illegal drug trade.
Barangays in focus
In another development, around P1.7 million worth of drugs were confiscated during the Cebu City Police Office’s (CCPO) OTBT operations between Nov. 22 and 23.
The OTBT resulted in the arrest of 30 drug personalities in 23 buy-busts. Nine persons were also served arrest warrants.
CCPO Director Royina Garma said that despite their continuous drug operations, some drug surrenderers have returned to the illegal drug trade.
Police are focusing their attention on two barangays: Calamba and Labangon.
“Actually, we concentrated on two barangays only dahil problema pa ang drugs dyan (because drugs are rampant there),” said Garma.
Garma said people they’ve arrested have been revealing the names of their suppliers and where these people could be found.
This is why they don’t apply for search warrants anymore because they don’t want to give drug personalities a chance to escape, she said.
Garma said they’ve observed that the drug supply increases as Christmas Day nears because the number of consumers also goes up.