THIRTY-FOUR lawbreakers in Cagayan Valley, 16 of them identified drug trafficking personalities were arrested by the local police in a series of anti-criminality operations in the province amid the much stricter enforcement of community quarantine to help prevent the further spread of COVID-19, Cagayan Police Provincial Office director, Colonel Ariel N. Quilang said yesterday.
In a report to Police Regional Office 2 director, Brigadier General Crizaldo O. Nieves, the official said 14 of the suspects were arrested in separate buy-busts while two others were arrested following the service of search warrants for violation of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
Recovered from the suspects were over P50,000 worth of shabu and dried marijuana leaves and the marked money paid to them by undercover officers. Ironically, two of the suspects were found to have been freed from jail after availing of plea bargaining under Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
Quilang said the arrests were made amid their conduct of the Simultaneous Anti-Criminality Law Enforcement Operations or the so-called ‘One-Time, Big-Time’ anti-crime operations in Cagayan targeting drug personalities and other wanted persons and loose firearms.
Last Wednesday, the local police arrested three suspects in separate stings in Tuguegarao City while the seven were arrested in buy-bust operations in the municipalities of Baggao, Solana, Gonzaga, Abulug, Lal-lo, Camalaniugan and Enrile.
Two others were arrested in an anti-narcotics raid in Gonzaga town.
Quilang said that one of those arrested in Tuguegarao City was Jonathan Marzano, a 27-year old businessman residing in Sampaguita Street in Barangay Caggay.
The suspect was arrested on Thursday evening after he sold drugs to an undercover officer. Seized from the suspect’s possession were 13 heat-sealed plastic sachets containing shabu, a weighing scale and two marked P1,000 bills paid to him by the poseur.
Quilang said a record check showed Marzano was previously charged with violation of RA 9165 but was acquitted.
In Enrile municipality, local policemen arrested Roland Butacan,36, a resident of Bgy. Alibago after he sold a packet of shabu to a poseur past 8 p.m. Thursday. The suspect also yielded the marked P500 bill paid to him by the agent.
Quilang said that the suspect was found to have been released from jail on a drug-related case after he availed of plea bargaining.
In Solana, local police anti-narcotics officers arrested Mark Joshua
All suspects are facing non-bailable charges for sale and possession of prohibited drugs under RA 9165, said the official.
Quilang said the rest of the suspects were arrested in manhunt operations, some of them wanted for non-bailable criminal charges.
One of the suspects identified as Dario Guzman, a 61-year old storekeeper from Barangay Maguiling in Piat, Cagayan was tracked down in his hiding place in Bgy. Bislig in San Andres, Catanduanes early morning.
Quilang said the suspect who is wanted for two counts of rape and tagged as the 3rd most wanted person in Piat was tracked down in his hiding place in Catanduanes 5:45 a.m. Friday on the strength of a warrant for two counts of rape with no bail recommended on October 21, 2014 by a Tuao court.
The others arrested include three men wanted for murder and three wanted for rape, all with no bail recommended for their temporary liberty.
