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BY BOY RYAN ZABAL
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Friday, May 5, 2017
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KALIBO, Aklan – Three people, including a barangay kagawad (village councilman), were arrested in an illegal drug buy-bust operation in Barangay Tambak, New Washington town on Thursday.
Kagawad Audenes Crispino, 35, of Barangay Ibao, Lezo was ranked No. 2 in the watch list of drug personalities of the police in his town. The Regional Drug Enforcement Unit (RDEU) considers him a “high-value target.”
Police said he sold a plastic pack of suspected shabu to an undercover officer for P500. Crispino denied this.
Crispino yielded five more plastic packs of similar substance after his arrest around 12:30 a.m. outside a videoke house.
He admitted surrendering to the police during the tokhang operation that was part of Oplan Double Barrel last year.
“I used drugs when I was in Manila but I stopped when I had a heart disease,” said Crispino, a neophyte village councilman. “I am respected because of my position. I help the Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Council.”
Crispino and his alleged cohorts — Joey Victoriano, 46, of Barangay Ibao, Lezo and Danilo Altar, 33, of Barangay Camanci Sur, Numancia — were surveilled for weeks, said Senior Inspector Geo Colibao, RDEU team leader.
Colibao confirmed Crispino was a high-value target.
“He (Crispino) gets his illegal drug supply here in Panay Island. He sells to customers in Lezo in bulk,” said Colibao.
But Crispino insisted that the operatives “planted” the suspected shabu and the buy-bust money seized from him.
“I met Altar at the videoke house in Tambak. Joey (Victoriano) is my neighbor. He was not using drugs,” he stressed.
All three suspects were temporarily detained in the Numancia police station.
They were facing charges for violation of sections 5 (selling) and 11 (possession) of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
Operatives from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Region 6 and the New Washington, Lezo and Numancia police stations helped in the operation. (With Aklan Forum Journal/PN)
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