MANILA: Members of Kerwin Espinosa’s drug syndicate have moved their operations from Leyte to Cebu because it was getting too hot in Eastern Visayas, local media reported.
Espinosa, a suspected drug lord, was arrested in Abu Dhabi, UAE last October 16 when an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) alerted police of his whereabouts, reported Sun Star.
Region 8 police have stepped up their campaign against illegal drugs, conducting bust after bust, Sun Star quoted Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) Director Joel Doria as saying, after a suspected member of the group and his wife were caught in a buy-bust with P5.9 million worth of shabu last October 19 on Katipunan St. in Labangon, Cebu City.
Jesryl Bacalla, 43, and his wife Jean Bacalla, 46, were arrested in a joint operation of the City Intelligence Branch (CIB), City Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Task Group (CAIDSTG), the Pardo Police Station and Punta Princesa Police Station, the report said.
Jesryl is suspected to be one of Espinosa’s men who operated the drug trade in Eastern Visayas. Jean is an active barangay councilor in Poblacion 3 in Baybay, Leyte.
CCPO Director Doria reportedly said Bacalla knew that the Leyte police were after him so he hid in Cebu and conducted his drug business here.
Doria was quoted as saying that Jesryl had admitted that he talked with Espinosa over the phone.
The hunt for Jesryl started when the Pardo police, in coordination with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) 7, conducted a buy-bust against one of their former agents who became the number one in the drugs watchlist of the police station.
Moises Arriesgado, 37, is a high-value target and was a PDEA agent until he went Absent without Leave (AWOL) since 2013, reported Sun Star.
