ILOILO City – Three suspected drug pushers were arrested yesterday in Barangay Daga, Santa Barbara, Iloilo. They yielded P500,000 worth of suspected methamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu).
The following were taken to the Santa Barbara police station:
* Ronna Susbilla, 43, resident of the village
* Joan Sorongon, 40, resident of the village
* Cornillo Somcio, 38, of Barangay Cafe, Santa Barbara
An undercover police officer initially bought from Somcio sachets of shabu for P50,000, according to Lieutenant Glenn Soliman of the Police Regional Office 6’s Regional Drug Enforcement Unit (RDEU).
Somcio, however, had no enough stocks that time so he went to sisters Susbilla and Sorongon; they did not know they were being subjected to a buy-bust operation.
More shabu were recovered from the three – in 10 big heat-sealed plastic sachets – during their arrest around 12:40 p.m.
According to Soliman, the suspects were under a certain “Abantao” drug group operating in Molo district. Their alleged leader, Jovan Abantao, is presently detained at the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City.
Soliman also said the sisters were believed to have maintained contact with an imprisoned relative at the national penitentiary, the brother-in-law of Susbilla identified as Edgar Susbilla who was convicted with murder.
Somcio, on the other hand, was a former drug convict. He was detained at the New Bilibid Prison for 19 years and was only released last year.
“They have direct contacts inside the New Bilibid Prison. The bulk of the illegal drugs were sent to suspects last week and we were able to tract them,” said Soliman.
The suspects were placed under surveillance for over two weeks prior to yesterday’s buy-bust./PN
