By Jennifer P. Rendon
Another former convicted criminal and his female friend were arrested in a police anti-narcotics operation evening of Jan 4, 2023 in Arevalo, Iloilo City.
Ex-convict Eddie Sevillo, 39, of Ana Ros Village, Guzman Street, Mandurriao district allegedly connived with Richelle Germo, 38, of VML Subdivision, Barangay North Fundidor, Molo, Iloilo City in selling drugs.
Members of the Regional Police Drug Enforcement Unit (RPDEU) and the Iloilo City Police Station 6 collared the duo in a buy-bust operation at Barangay Sto. Nino Sur, Arevalo around 9 p.m. on Wednesday.
They allegedly sold a sachet of suspected shabu to a police poseur buyer for P18,000.
When frisked, the suspects yielded 21 more sachets of suspected shabu, the marked money, an improvised glass footer, a mobile phone, a Yamaha motorcycle, and several non-drug items.
Lieutenant Glenn Soliman, RPDEU team leader, said the seized illegal drugs weighed around 110 grams and were valued at P748,000.
Sevillo, an alleged high-value individual (HVI) drug personality, was in tears following his arrest while Germo maintained a “chill stance.”
Sevillo, who is on the top 10 priority list of the RPDEU, was arrested for a drug-related offense in Mandurriao in 2018.
He was released from imprisonment three years later after availing of the government’s plea bargaining agreement deal.
Soliman said it was around May 2022 when they learned that Sevillo went back to the narcotics business.
Police confirmed his illegal drug trade involvement after two arrested pushers claimed that Sevillo was their source.
“We have attempted to arrest him but he was slippery,” he said.
Soliman said Sevillo would lay low in the provinces of Iloilo and Negros Occidental every time a pusher he dealt with was arrested.
Police later learned of his whereabouts and activities after monitoring Germo’s trail.
Several witnesses claimed that the two were always seen together.
Soliman said the suspect’s illegal drug supply was traced to a source at the New Bilibid Prison.
The suspects are now detained and would be charged with violation of Section 5 in relation to Section 26 and Section 11 of Republic Act 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002).
