ILOILO City – An elusive drug suspect in Jaro district the police have been targeting since last year has finally been arrested.
The 27-year-old John Mark Sinibalo of Barangay Simon Ledesma, Jaro was taken to the district police station after falling in a buy-bust operation at 10:20 p.m. on Wednesday in the same village.
He was a high-value target, according to Police Captain Marc Dado of the Police Regional Office 6’s Regional Drug Enforcement Unit (RDEU).
Sinibalo denied trafficking shabu but admitted being a user.
According to Dado, Sinibalo was affiliated with the Prevendido drug group and used to work for the group’s leader Richard Prevendido as “handler” of the drug lord’s fighting cocks.
“He transacted with clients in cockpits during derbies. He knew that cockpits were off-limits to policemen so he felt safe doing business there,” said Dado.
Wednesday night’s buy-bust operation, however, was not in a cockpit. The suspect sold a sachet of shabu for P1,000 to an undercover police officer, said Dado.
Ten more sachets were recovered from Sinibalo’s possession, he added.
“He was too slippery. He dealt only with those close to him,” said Dado.
The RDEU finally found a way to transact business with Sinibalo. They tapped a drug surrenderer who was their target’s friend.
His supplier was likely from Manila, according to the RDEU.
Sinibalo surrendered to the police two years ago in line with the Philippine National Police’s tokhang operations but did not stop trafficking drugs, said Dado.
Two years ago, his boss Prevendido died in a shootout with policemen in Barangay Balabago, Jaro district./PN
