ILOILO – A man believed to be the illegal drug supplier of Aljohn Jalbuna, the suspect in the rape and killing of an 18-year-old girl in Tubungan town, was arrested in a buy-bust operation on Friday morning, June 27, in the town’s Barangay Ingay.
The 43-year-old Jerald Tagundando was caught with 135 grams of suspected shabu approximately valued at P918,000. He had been under close police surveillance for a month prior to the operation.
Police said Tagundando was classified as a high-value target after being identified by a previous suspect arrested in Barangay Igtuble in May this year. His name surfaced again following the arrest of Jalbuna, who tested positive for illegal drug use.
In his affidavit, Jalbuna admitted to using shabu shortly before the crime. He claimed he and an alias “Botbot” used the illegal substance before he entered the home of the victim identified as Candie Tabanda and killed her.
Authorities suspect that Tagundando may have been directly supplying the illegal drugs used by Jalbuna. His residence, police said, is located just 50 meters away from the victim’s house.
“We received information that Jerald Tagundando was the source of illegal drugs for Jalbuna. This came from multiple suspects we had arrested previously and was later corroborated when Jalbuna himself tested positive for drugs and confessed to using shabu before the crime,” said Captain Glenn Soliman, Regional Police Drug Enforcement Unit 6 chief.
Soliman also confirmed that a confidential informant helped the police locate and apprehend Tagundando. He added that additional follow-up operations were underway to trace Tagundando’s other possible links and associates.
The police were also validating reports that Jalbuna may have used illegal drugs inside Tagundando’s home shortly before committing the crime, though the former claimed the drug session took place elsewhere.
Tagundando remained in police custody as investigations continued as of this writing./PN
