Two residents of Virac were arrested in separate operations conducted within hours of each other beginning Monday evening, Jan. 11, 2021, as the Catanduanes police ramped up its campaign against illegal drugs.
According to reports, a buy-bust operation in Sta. Elena shortly before 7 P.M. that day led to the apprehension of a security guard at the provincial capitol, identified as one Aldrin Ocray Gianan, 25, a resident of Calatagan Tibang.
Seized from his possession were eight large sachets of suspected shabu, one small sachet, and another small sachet that was the subject of the sale as well as the P500 buy-bust money.
Some six hours later before 1 A.M. of Jan. 12, police armed with a search warrant searched the house of tricycle driver Ruben Lasang Padilla, 26, also known as “Ambot,” at Purok 3 in Gogon Centro.
The search conducted in the presence of barangay and media representatives yielded a black pouch containing 34 small sachets with suspected shabu and a cigarette lighter.
The Catanduanes police has yet to release an official report on the twin operations.
Meanwhile, Bato police authorities have found no signs of foul play in the death of a 66-year old man who apparently fell from the Bato bridge last week.
The body of Jose Teanila, a resident of barangay Tilis, was found below the bridge in the morning of Jan. 7, with the police immediately responding to the incident and calling on the Rural Health Unit and the Scene-of-the-Crime operatives at Camp Francisco Camacho for assistance.
Investigation disclosed that he was last seen in a drinking session at a wake for the dead in nearby Sipi at around 12 midnight of Jan. 6.
According to the police, a doctor who examined Teanila’s body said death occurred about five hours before the examination, with the body exhibiting signs of internal hemorrhage and hypothermia.
There were no bruises or wounds on the victim’s body or any indication of foul play, the report stated.