Bodyguards of Leyte town mayor held for drugs

ALBUERA, Leyte—Two bodyguards of Mayor Rolando Espinosa, of this town, and his three employees were arrested during a buy-bust operation on Thursday during which at least P1.9 million worth of shabu was recovered.

Four other suspects managed to escape after they ran into the house of Kerwin Espinosa, the mayor’s son, and locked the gate, the police said.

The house of Kerwin is located inside a gated compound where his father also lives.

Chief Insp. Jove Espinido, Albuera police chief, said police had no authority to barge into the compound after the gate was locked.

“We want a fair fight. We don’t want martial law,” he added.

Mayor on leave

The buy-bust operation was conducted around 5:30 p.m. on Thursday at a tennis court near the houses of the mayor and his son in Sitio Tinago, Barangay Benolho in this town.

The Inquirer tried to reach Mayor Espinosa but was told that he had gone on leave since last week.

Arrested during the operation were two of the mayor’s bodyguards—Jessie Ocares, 34, and Marcelo Adorco, 40—and his three employees—Jose Antipuesto, Jeffrey Pesquera and  Ernesto Dumalat.

Antipuesto, 36, who takes care of the mayor’s fighting cocks, was the subject of the buy-bust operation after the police received reports that he had been selling the illegal substance, said Espinido.

He said an undercover policeman posed as a buyer and bought P300 worth of shabu from Antipuesto.

When the undercover policeman announced it was a sting operation, several men at the tennis court scampered to different directions.

But the team of the local police and the Regional Police Safety Battalion was able to arrest Antipuesto and four others.

Armed

Although Ocares and Adorco were armed, they didn’t put up a fight.

Four suspects managed to escape by seeking refuge in the house of Kerwin, the mayor’s son.

Seized from Ocares were a .45 cal. pistol and a sachet of shabu weighing 84 grams. A .45 cal. pistol and a packet of shabu weighing 121 grams were recovered from Adorco.

At least 14.8 grams of shabu were recovered from Antipuesto.

Pesquera, 39, and a native of Cebu City, also worked for the mayor as caretaker of fighting cocks.  Seven grams of shabu was found in his possession.

Dumalat, 20, and another employee of the mayor, was caught with two small packs of shabu weighing 3.7 grams.

The suspects denied owning the shabu recovered from them which would reach P1.9 million in street value.

Adorco and Ocares said the guns seized by police were licensed and covered by permits to carry firearms.

The five were detained at the Albuera police jail facility pending filing of charges for violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 (Republic Act No. 2002).