An alert security guard foiled an attempt to smuggle P300,000 worth of suspected methampetamine into a Bohol-bound ferry at Cebu City’s Pier 3.
The suspected drugs which weighed 100 grams was recovered from the possession of Joselito Ras, 45.
Police also arrested Ras’ companions identified as Francisco Lalimbat, 31, and Sisinio Ampong, 37. The three are residents of barangay Trinidad, Guindulman, Bohol.
Lalimbat and Ampong were arrested after Ras admitted that they were together when they picked up the suspected drugs in Talisay City.
The three men were about to leave for Bohol when they were apprehended past 11 a.m. yesterday.
After passing through the metal detector, the three men were stopped by security guard Cutie Flores for a body check.
Flores noticed that something was bulging in one of the pockets of Ras’ pants.
Flores asked Ras to show what was inside his pocket but the man claimed it was just a towel.
When Flores insisted to show the object inside the man’s pocket, Ras allegedly took a P1,000 bill and tried to hand it over to Flores.
Ras’ attempt to bribe Flores was another violation, according to Supt. Joshua Lao Pantoja, chief of the maritime police in Pier 3.
“Iyang (Ras) gitunol kang Flores unya ning-ingon nga dili na lang padak-on (He handed over the money to Flores and told her not to make a big deal out of it). With that, he committed another violation,” Pantoja said.
Pantoja said they will be coordinating with the City Intelligence Branch of Cebu City Police Office and the Provincial Intelligence Branch of Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO-PIB) to determine if the three were included in the list of suspected drug pushers.
In an interview, Ras admitted possessing the suspected drugs.
“Dili na man ta makadeny ana, kay nakuhaan man gyud ta (I cannot deny anymore because it was recovered from my possession),” Ras, a father of nine children, told Cebu Daily News.
Ras said he is just a newbie in the illegal drug trade.
He admitted that he was able to pass through the security inside without being detected that he was carrying illegal drugs.
The three were detained pending the filing of charges against them.