BY CALVIN CORDOVA
CEBU CITY – The P1.5 million worth of kush marijuana that was seized here on Wednesday were intended for an elite group of partygoers, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Central Visayas (PDEA 7) said Thursday.
PDEA 7 regional director Levi Ortiz said the package containing 1,000 grams of high-grade marijuana was intended for Matteo Abato, an Italian national.
“He is still at large but we will be filing charges against him,” said Ortiz.
Ortiz said because of its steep price, peddling of kush marijuana is not rampant in Cebu.
One gram of kush would cost P1,500, said Ortiz.
“This is to be confirmed but reportedly, there is a group of partygoers which invite models to a party without knowing that they will be using drugs. There are foreigners in the party,” said Ortiz.
Ortiz said there were also reports about the presence of yacht with unlimited supply of party drugs.
Ortiz said the seized kush marijuana came from Spain.
“We were alerted by our national office because the package was bound for Cebu,” said Ortiz.
PDEA 7 agents arrested Jan Robert Pareles in Barangay Banilad when he showed up to receive the package.
The package was addressed to Asmara Urban Resort but Ortiz clarified that the establishment had nothing to do with the shipment.
“To be fair to Asmara, there is no evidence that would link them to the shipment. Asmara was just used in this case because it is a popular place,” said Ortiz said.
Ortiz also clarified that the arrest did not happen in the premises of Asmara but in front of the urban resort on 1 Paseo Saturnino Street.
Asmara management stressed that the arrest took place on a public road shared by several establishments. (Calvin Cordova)
