Elusive shabu suspect caught in gun buy-bust

A jobless man allegedly involved in illegal drugs who eluded the Virac police finally fell into their hands
after he tried to sell a gun to an undercover lawman.
Identified by the police as “Boboy,” the suspect was named by a source of the Catanduanes Island Media
Club (CIMC as one Jasper Valencia, 45, a resident of barangay Marcelo Alberto.
Seized along with the Cal. 38 revolver loaded with two bullets that he tried to sell to the poseur-buyer was
a plastic sachet containing white crystalline granules believed to be shabu.
Following a tip from a concerned citizen regarding the suspect’s intent to sell the firearm, elements of the
Virac MPS led by PEMS Primarion Magana Jr., together with personnel of the Catanduanes Provincial
Intelligence Unit and the Regional Police Drug Enforcement Unit 5 (RPDEU5) conducted the operation in
the evening of Jan. 6, 2022 at about 8:30 PM at San Isidro Village.
He will be charged for violation of the provisions of Republic Act 10591 or the Comprehensive Firearms
and Ammunition Regulation Act as well as that of RA 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act.
The police report stated that Valencia had been previously charged for possession of dangerous drugs in
July 2020 and went into probation after pleading guilty to a lower offense during the hearing of his case at
the Regional Trial Court.
Tribune records show that on July 8, 2020, joint elements of the various police units headed by then Virac
MPS officer-in-charge Maj. Antonio Perez, armed with a search warrant from RTC Branch 42 Presiding
Judge Genie G. Gapas-Agbada, surrounded Valencia’s temporary residence in Hicming.
During the search, the police found six sachets of shabu and other non-drug items in possession of
Valencia, who had been listed as a high-value individual in the police’s data base on illegal drugs in
Catanduanes.
Virac OIC-chief of police Maj. Robert Kevin Caparroso said the suspect’s arrest came following a tip to
the Esumbong mo kay TSIP hotline, which receives information against crime and other violations of law.
He asked the public to be alert in their surroundings and to seek the immediate assistance of the police.