A popular local tennis player and another man, both tagged as provincial-level drug targets, were subjected to a drug buy bust operation which yielded shabu worth P34,000 in Inabanga on Wednesday afternoon.
Joseph Jumamoy, the operation’s target, managed to evade arrest while his alleged Cohort Jodel Melecio, 30, a known tennis competitor in the province, was arrested by operatives of the Bohol police Provincial Intelligence Branch (PIB).
According to PIB deputy chief Captain Gereon Item, both men sourced their drug supply in Cebu and distributed it in Tagbilaran City, Danao and Inabanga.
Jumamoy was allegedly spotted by police as he was selling illegal drugs near his residence in Barangay Ilaud, Inabanga prompting police to set the anti-drug operation in motion.
He arranged the drug transaction while Melecio handed over shabu worth P17,000 to the undercover cop, said Item.
Jumamoy however noticed that they were subjected to a sting operation. He fled and lost the pursuing police in a residential area near the Inabanga River.
Melecio was placed under the custody of the Inabanga police which assisted the PIB during the operation while Jumamoy remained at large.
Both men will be charged with possession and sale of illegal drugs, said Item. (W. Maestrado)