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BY RUBY SILUBRICO
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ILOILO City – A brother of a suspected drug group leader in northern Iloilo was arrested in an antidrug operation in Barangay Aspera, Sara, Iloilo.
The 77-year-old Francisco Balume yielded six sachets of shabu.
He was with his son Rannie when an undercover officer bought a sachet of shabu from the latter in their house around 5 p.m. on July 14, said Chief Inspector Charlie Sustento, head of the Iloilo Police Provincial Office’s Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit.
Rannie, however, managed to escape.
Francisco is the brother of Arturo “Master Pedic” Balume, the suspected drug group leader from Sara town.
Rannie sensed that they were transacting with a police officer so he ran to the back of their house, leaving behind his father behind, said Sustento.
Francisco and Rannie engaged in the drug trade only months ago, Sustento said. “We received information that they get their supply from northern Iloilo.”
Sara police station also helped in the operation.
Chief Inspector Ronnie Brillo, station chief, said the Balume father and son were not yet in their list of suspected drug personalities.
But the Balumes were already charged with illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.
Just this June, Sara police officers raided their house and recovered a .38-caliber revolver, two .45-caliber pistols and bullets. The father and son were not around at the time, said Brillo.
The raid was conducted after Rannie allegedly shot a relative to death. The case had been settled, Brillo added.
Meanwhile, the manhunt for Arturo Balume continues, Sustento said.
Judge Rogelio Amador of the Regional Trial Court Branch 66 issued arrest warrants against Arturo for two counts of murder (criminal case numbers 2017-8032 and 2017-8033).
Arturo was a suspect in killing two supporters of Melina Requinto, a mayoral candidate in Estancia town, on May 8, 2016 in Barangay Pania-an, Balasan — Ronaldo Estandarte and Roberto Magarso.
Other at-large suspects were Arturo’s son Arturo II and Francis Valdez.
Another suspect, Ramy Balume, was arrested just this May 30 in Barangay San Andres, San Rafael town./PN
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