Trader yields 1kg cocaine brick in Cebu sting operation

A trader trying to sell a kilogram of cocaine brick worth up to P3 million was arrested in a police sting operation in Cebu province Tuesday, police said Wednesday. Central Visayas regional operations head Senior Superintendent Louie Oppus identified the suspect as Russell Rosales, 38, a resident of Minglanilla town in Cebu. "Nangyari ang buy-bust dahil 'di pwede ma-raid... papalit-palit ng lugar yung dealing ng suspect (We had to resort to a sting operation. We could not raid his house because he was switching residences)," Oppus said in an interview on dzBB radio. Recovered from the trader was a kilo of cocaine brick, which Oppus said was worth between P2 to 3 million. Also recovered from Rosales were a Toyota Fortuner sport-utility vehicle and several bank books and checking accounts indicating he is an executive at a mining firm. Oppus said police are are following up Rosales' ties to the mining industry after they found a bank passbook registered to "Three Kings Sunrise Mining Corp." Citing information reaching him, Oppus said Rosales' last known residence was in Kingswood Village, which the police officer described as a "middle-high-end" subdivision. Oppus said the police were alerted to Rosales via a tip from the Philippine National Police's Anti-Illegal Drug Special Operations Task Force. An initial investigation showed Rosales may have gotten the brick from Eastern Visayas, where several cocaine bricks had been found floating off the shores there. He said Rosales may have tried to sell the cocaine first in Metro Manila. "Marunong talaga itong tao na ito, three times nagpapalipat-lipat ng lugar ito. We are checking his background (This guy is smart. He transferred residences three times as if to elude lawmen. We are checking his background)," he said. — LBG/RSJ, GMANews.TV