Article by:
John Rey Saavedra
CEBU CITY – An online food delivery rider was arrested on Saturday and yielded 10 kilos of illegal drugs believed to be shabu worth PHP68 million, a biggest haul so far this year, according to the Police Regional Office (PRO-7) and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in Central Visayas.
Lt. Col. Glenn Mayam, chief of the Regional Intelligence Division of PRO-7, identified the suspect as Josh Vincent “Justin” Camion, 24, a resident of Barangay Guadalupe where he was nabbed by the PRO-7’s Regional Drug Enforcement Unit.
The operatives led by Capt. Joffre Grande seized from Camion eight large packs of shabu marked “888” and placed inside green tea bags, the marked money used in the buy-bust operation, and a black sports bag he used to carry the contraband.
The shabu seized from Camion is valued at PHP68 million based on the Dangerous Drugs Board valuation.
“This operation was based on intelligence work. We placed the suspect under eight months of intelligence operation. Actually, they have a group that we have traced and placed their modus operandi under monitoring,” Mayam told reporters as he witnessed the on-site inventory of the evidence.
Mayam dismissed insinuation that the proceeds of the bulk of drugs recently seized were meant to finance politicians, saying the drug personalities like Camion were placed under police watch several months ago.
He said Camion is considered as a regional high-value target. He has a pending illegal possession of firearm case in court but was released on bail.
Camion’s arrest came after the seizure of PHP13.8-million worth of shabu in two separate sting operations in Barangays Mambaling and Duljo-Fatima.
John Mark Malibiran, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA)-Region 7 assistant regional director, said drugs confiscated by the authorities in buy-bust operations in Cebu could be traced to a drug syndicate with links to “Golden Triangle” owing to its packaging and bigger volume.
“So far this is the biggest haul. We have a 5-kilo drugs seizure in Region 6,” said Malibiran as he witnessed the inventory of the illegal drugs seized from the suspect. (PNA)
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