A policeman inspects the bodies of drug suspect Jeffrey “Jaguar” Diaz and his bodyguard who were killed during police operations in Las Piñas City on June 19, 2016. (CDN FILE PHOTO/ PHOTO FROM ASPO UGBINAR AGRAVANTE’S FACEBOOK PAGE)
LEGAZPI CITY, Albay — A police official confirmed, on Sunday, that a suspected big-time drug dealer arrested in Matnog town in Sorsogon province on Saturday had taken over the operations of Cebu’s top
drug lord, the late Jeffrey “Jaguar” Diaz.
Chief Supt. Melvin Buenafe, the Bicol regional police chief, said Reynaldo Diaz, alias James Tan, who was arrested in the Subic Saday Resort in Barangay Calintaan in Matnog on Saturday afternoon, was Jeffrey Diaz’s cousin and closest associate.
Jeffrey, one of Central Visayas’ suspected top drug dealers who operated mainly in Cebu City, and his bodyguard were killed in a shootout with policemen in Las Piñas City in June.
Reynaldo Diaz was arrested in Matnog while in the company of six personnel of the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Buenafe said the DOJ personnel, who were armed, were “using” Diaz in their operations against the illegal drug trade.
Buenafe, however, did not provide details on the supposed engagement of Diaz and the DOJ personnel. He said the police have not clarified if Diaz has become a “whistle-blower” under the protection of the DOJ.
A police team went to the resort in Sorsogon to serve Diaz arrest warrants for violation of Republic Act No. 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002) in Cebu City and for frustrated murder cases in Nueva Ecija.
Police held the DOJ personnel and seized from them four M16 rifles, six .45-pistols, and magazines and bullets for different guns.
Diaz was presented to Philippine National Police Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, who was in Bicol over the weekend for the feast of the Our Lady of Peñafrancia in Naga City. SFM