Cebu narc chief falls in payoff

CEBU CITY — Agents of the National Anti-Kidnapping Task Force (NAKTAF) arrested the other day the head of the Drug Enforcement Unit (DEU) of the city police, together with one of his men, after receiving P1 million cash and a kilo of shabu which he had demanded in exchange for the release of two suspected big-time drug pushers.

Senior Inspector Orlando Yebra of NAKTAF sprang the trap he had laid out against DEU chief Nicolas Salvador and PO3 Razol Segismar at about 6 p.m. at the parking lot of the Marriott Hotel as the two received the money and shabu from an undercover police agent and a relative of the alleged pushers.

Salvador and Segismar arrested Melgeb Duterte and John Ledesma in Ginatilan last May 24 but never reported the arrest, secretly keeping the two inside the DEU office.

The two police officers allegedly demanded P5 million but the two suspected pushers reportedly said they did not have that much cash, prompting the two lawmen to eventually settle for P1 million plus a kilo of shabu.

Regional Intelligence and Investigation Division chief Jonathan Miano said it was not until last Monday when they got a whiff of what was happening.

Police regional director Avelino Razon Jr. reportedly got a tip that two alleged big-time drug pushers had been kidnapped by policemen and that a ransom had been demanded.

Razon instructed Miano and Cebu City police chief Josephus Angan to conduct a discrete investigation and they found out that Duterte and Ledesma were, indeed, being secretly kept inside the DEU office.

Upon learning what was going on inside the DEU office, the NAKTAF was notified and a trap was set.

Salvador and Segismar were told the ransom payment would be paid at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Marriott Hotel parking lot.

A female relative of the two alleged drug pushers, who were incidentally cousins, arrived aboard a taxi with the money and drugs, escorted by Rowena Gina Geverola of the regional police.

As Salvador took the money and Segismar watched, NAKTAF agents collared the two policemen. Both were immediately disarmed and their badges taken.

The investigation went late into the night. Acting Mayor Michael Rama, shocked by the incident, witnessed the inquiry.

Salvador and Segismar refused to issue comments to media.— Freeman News Service, Jaime Laude