‘Innocent’ stude nabbed for drugs
Says he thought it was tuition money
CEBU CITY – A second year Marine Engineering student still owed money for this semester’s tuition. So when someone handed him a paper bag and told him it contained money and an early Christmas gift, he was only too glad to accept.
That was the story 18-year-old Christian Tiu told elements of the Waterfront Police Station after they arrested him around 2:30 a.m. yesterday during a buy-bust in Villagonzalo II in Barangay Tejero, Cebu City.
Police found suspected shabu with an estimated worth of P100,000 inside the paper bag.
“Wala ko magtuo nga mao diay toy sulod (I didn’t expect that it would contain drugs),” Tiu said. Confirmation An informant had tipped police about a college student who frequented the area to sell illegal drugs.
The team validated the claims of the informant around 8:30 p.m. last Friday and returned to the station at 11:30 p.m. to declare that the report was true.
A police decoy later bought a medium sachet of shabu for P500 from Tiu, said PO2 Marlon Gonzales, desk officer of the Waterfront Police Station.
Tiu said he regretted accepting the paper bag from the woman who was a longtime neighbor, adding that he was aware of her involvement in the illegal drugs trade.
Tiu, a Cebu City scholar, said he is worried about his future because he is facing a non-bailable case. The shabu found in his possession weighed more than five grams.
He said his parents are unemployed. His siblings, who work as call center agents, support him.
“I have school on Monday, and I still owe P4,626,” he said in Cebuano.
Meanwhile, the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) 7 Metro Cebu also conducted two drug busts in the same location and nabbed 11 persons at 3:15 p.m.