Village chief nabbed in Cebu drug bust

CEBU CITY – Agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Central Visayas (PDEA-7) arrested a barangay captain in Toledo City, about 50 km west of here, for allegedly peddling illegal drugs.

Eduardo Bacalso, village chief of Sangi in Toledo City, was caught in a drug bust inside his residence past 5 p.m. on Thursday.

He did not resist arrest.

Sought for comment, Bacalso denied the accusations against him.

“I’m never involved in selling illegal drugs. The packs of shabu recovered from me were planted,” he said in Cebuano.

Bacalso served for two terms as barangay councilor before he won as village chief of Sangi in 2013.

PDEA-7 director Yogi Filemon Ruiz said they have been conducting surveillance operations against Bacalso for two years.

The 50-year-old barangay captain, he said, was a top drug personality in Toledo City.

“We’ve been transacting with him but he would lie low every time he noticed that he was being monitored,” Ruiz said.

“We, however, did not stop pursuing him until we finally got his trust,” he added.

Recovered from his possession were 105 grams if shabu worth P378,000 and an unlicensed .38 revolver.

Charges of violations of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, particularly for selling illegal drugs, will  be filed against him.

The offense is non-bailable. CDG/rga