Minor, 5 others busted in P1.4-M drug sting

By: Glazyl Y. Masculino

BACOLOD City – More or less 120 grams of suspected shabu worth P1,440,000 was seized from six persons, including a 15-year-old girl in a buy-bust inside a pension house at Barangay 2, San Carlos City, Negros Occidental Monday.

Police Lieutenant Colonel D’Artagnan Katalbas Jr., city police chief, identified the target subject as Guiller Patrick Rigor, 27, of the said village, a high value target.

Rigor allegedly sold a shabu to a police agent for P1,000.

Also arrested were Kirk Morris Tambiga, 29, of Barangay 1, a high value target; Maxim Laurence Bayawa, 20, of Barangay Rizal; Dobielyn Lebumfacil, 20, of Cebu; Rita Marie Fatima Bocateja, 22, of Barangay Rizal; and a female minor, whose name was withheld, who were all present during the operation inside a room.

Police recovered from Rigor eight sachets of suspected shabu, a digital weighing scale, drug paraphernalia, and P1,500 cash, including the P1,000 marked money.

Anti-drug operatives of San Carlos City Police Station also seized from Tambiga a sachet of suspected shabu, and drug paraphernalia.

No contraband was seized from the three women and the minor. However, Katalbas said they can be charged for conspiracy or visiting pending the decision of the fiscal.

“The five other suspects were supposed to get the supply for distribution when they were busted,” Katalbas said, adding that they were probably part of a group which supplies the contraband in the city.

The minor was turned over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) while the five other suspects are detained at the said police station.

Katalbas said Rigor and Tambiga are considered high value targets since they were previously jailed for a drug offense but was released from jail through plea bargaining.

“We received information that they immediately returned engaging in the illegal drug trade, thus we monitored their activities for several days before launching the operation since they would usually transfer from one place to another,” Katalbas said, adding that Rigor would usually do the transaction in a pension house.

Katalbas said they are still probing if the illegal drugs were sourced from Cebu, since one of the arrested suspects is a native there.

“We are exploring other possible areas and their transaction through the cellular phones we recovered from them,” he added.

Moreover, Katalbas said the management of the pension house will also face investigation to determine if they have knowledge about the illegal drug trade or if they conspired with the suspects.

Meanwhile, Lorence Sarno, 18, of Barangay 2 here was arrested in a drug bust at the said village last Monday, after police confiscated from him five sachets of suspected shabu worth P100,000, and the P200 marked money.

Sarno, a street level target, is detained at Police Station 2.

The following day, Renato Guerrero, 47, of Barangay 27, a street level target; Orlando Andales, 40, of Barangay Mansilingan; and Miyuki Dazo, 23, of Barangay 28 were arrested at Barangay 27 here, after police seized from them five sachets of suspected shabu worth P45,000, and the P1,000 marked money.

All three suspects are detained at Police Station 2.

Meanwhile, the Bacolod City Drug Enforcement Unit (CDEU) seized P1,325,000 worth of suspected shabu from two persons, including a minor in a buy-bust at Barangay Banago here yesterday.

Arrested were John Carlo Serfino, 24, and a male teenager, whose name was withheld.

The drug bust was conducted around 2 p.m.

Police recovered from them 27 sachets of suspected shabu weighing 110 grams, and the P1,000 marked money.

Both suspects are under the custody of Police Station 3 for the filing of drug charges.