Operation vs. mayor’s ‘aides’ yields P1.9M drugs, firearms

ORMOC CITY — A joint operation of the local police and the Police Regional Public Safety Batallion in Albuera town in Leyte on Thursday resulted in the confiscation of an estimated P1.9 million worth of illegal drugs and firearms, and the arrest of five suspects.

Chief Inspector Jovie Espenido, Albuera Police chief and team leader of the operations, said confiscated were large sachets of shabu, weighing 238 grams, two .45-caliber pistols loaded with live ammunition, cash and drug paraphernalia.

The arrested suspects were identified as Marcelo Adorco, 40; Jose Antepuesto, 36; Jeffrey Pesquera, 39; Ernesto Dumalat, 20; and Jessie Ocaris, 34—all residents of Albuera—who also claimed they were security officers of Mayor Rolando Espinosa.

Espenido said a surveillance on the subjects conducted a few days ago had prompted the buy-bust operation against Antepuesto at the village’s basketball court. This resulted in the arrest of four others, but caused also the crowd to scamper away from the scene.

In a body search, the police found from Antepuesto’s possession a medium-sized sachet containing shabu, drug paraphernalia and the P300 buy-bust money.

Adorco and Ocaris alleged that Mayor Espinosa provided them licenses to carry firearms, for which Adorco claimed he needed as the mayor’s bodyguard, and Ocaris said he needed for self-defense. The two, however, failed to present documents for the guns, while they yielded large saschet of drugs, which they, however, denied later as from their possession.

Espenido said: “Before we left the station, all of us prayed so no one will be hurt or killed. And I thank God for hearing my prayers, that none of the suspects prompted to open fire.” As such, Adorco and Ocaris said they were glad to be arrested alive.

Espenido, who had been tagged as Leyte province’s drug buster police official, was installed as the town’s chief of police mid-July to stop the drug activities in the area.

The Philippine News Agency, as of yesterday, was still trying to reach Mayor Espinosa for his statement over the claims of the arrested suspects linking him to them. Cases are now also prepared against the suspects at a court in Baybay City.