TACLOBAN CITY – A village chief in San Miguel, Leyte linked to the illegal drugs trade was arrested during a buy-bust late Monday.
The suspect, Marcial Lacabe Sieton, 49, Cayare village chief, had been listed as a high-value target in the region.
In a report released on Tuesday, the police said he is a remnant of the Kerwin Espinosa drug group.
Espinosa, a self-confessed illegal drug distributor, is the son of Albuera town mayor Rolando Espinosa, who was killed in a raid inside his detention cell on Nov. 5, 2016.
The police said operatives were able to buy a sachet of suspected shabu from Sieton during the buy-bust in nearby Libtong village.
Confiscated were nine heat-sealed transparent plastic sachets of suspected shabu worth PHP30,000, drug bust money amounting to PHP2,000, PHP620 cash, and a white plastic paper used as a container.
Sieton will face charges for violating Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
The pieces of evidence will be brought to the regional crime laboratory of the Philippine National Police for chemical analysis. (PNA)
