7 suspects arrested, P43.8 million drugs seized

CEBU, Philippines —  At least P43.8 million worth of illegal drugs were seized in separate anti-drug operations resulting in the arrest of seven people in Cebu and Bohol last Monday.

Joint operatives of the Drug Enforcement Unit of Danao City Police Station and Cebu Provincial Police Office uprooted 7,500 marijuana plants worth P3 million in Barangay Langosig, Danao City.

Two cultivators-- Ariel Lawas, 23, and Jeaven Lawas, 20—were also arrested during the operation.

Meanwhile, Bohol Provincial Police Office (BPPO) operatives in coordination with the Regional Drug Enforcement Unit arrested Lelit Sinugbojan, 44; Chellomae Curayag, 34; Junalyn Matora, 33; and Humphrey Cenabe, 33, all residents of Bohol except for Sinugbojan who is from Lapu-Lapu City, during a buy-bust operation in Sitio Antipolo, Barangay Dampas District,Tagbilaran City.

The police confiscated two kilos of suspected shabu with estimated value of P13.6 million. Shortly after their arrest, a follow-up operation in Barangay Tanghaligi,Talibon, Bohol also resulted in the arrest  Jaime Dajao, 44,  a high-value target.

Seized from Dajao were four kilos of suspected shabu with an estimated value of P27.2 million.

Police Regional Office (PRO)-7 director Brigadier General Albert Ignatius Ferro said the suspects in both operations in Bohol belong to the same group based on their intelligence monitoring.

Ferro said they also have contacts from other drug groups. The operations were products of a month-long surveillance operation.

According to Ferro, the drug supply did not come from Bohol but was smuggled from other areas. He commended the police operatives involved in the successful operations. Charges are now prepared against the suspects.  FPL (FREEMAN)