By Jennifer P. Rendon
The ingenuity of two men to smuggle liquor, the sale of which is banned in Iloilo province, were busted after police were tipped of their modus operandi.
Police arrested Roger Mirasol, 41, and Roniel Alisin, 28, both residents of Zone 1, Calumpang, Molo, Iloilo City, as they were transporting 265 bottles of Tanduay Rhum in 375 ml and 750 ml variants to Barangay Teniente Benito, Tubungan, Iloilo around 3:00 p.m. of May 27, 2020.
Police Lieutenant Jose Rommel Samson, Tubungan police chief, said he received text messages that liquor will be sold at a certain area in the municipality.
The bottles of liquor were hidden inside 15 plastic containers, which are usually used for storing soy sauce or cooking oil.
Mirasol and Alisin cut open the containers and slipped in the bottles.
When asked what they were carrying, the two suspects claimed they are into buying used containers.
But police later learned that the containers were not empty but loaded with bottles of liquor.
Mirasol and Alisin later admitted that they were about to deliver the liquor to a buyer whom they only knew through text message, police reports indicated.
They also claimed it was their first time to transport in Tubungan town.
FOUR MORE NABBED
Mirasol and Alisin’s arrest are part of the string of police operations against the transport and selling of liquor in Iloilo province amid the community quarantine to stop the spread of COVID-19.
Two more police operations were conducted in a span of almost three hours on Wednesday, a day after the liquor ban was reimposed in Iloilo City.
At 3:20 p.m., policemen arrested two persons at the corner of Roosevelt – Benigno Aquino Streets in Brgy. San Sebastian, Sta. Barbara.
The suspects were identified as Willsan Broniola, 32, and Michael Marpa, 25, both residents of Barangay Ungka 1, Pavia.
Ten minutes before the arrest, members of the Quarantine Control Point (QCP) 4 located at the boundary of Lupa-Cabugao Norte, Sta. Barbara town flagged down their Nissan pick-up truck but they disregarded the authorities.
Members of the PNP beat patrol later intercepted them at Bangga Dama, Sta. Barbara.
A check on their vehicle revealed that they were carrying 20 boxes of Tanduay Rhum from Iloilo City.
Meanwhile, members of Barotac Viejo Police Station also arrested two liquor ban violators at the JTF-QCP at Barangay Natividad, Barotac Viejo around 5:50 p.m. Wednesday.
Arrested were Erwin Crabajosa and Dante Carugda, both residents of Brgy. Merced, Banate, Iloilo
The team of Police Captain Kenn Albert Lepsia, Barotac Viejo police chief, caught the suspects with 20 boxes of Tanduay Rhum loaded on the back of their Mitsubishi Strada pick-up truck (license plate PWO 521).
The latest arrest was made at 1:30 p.m. on May 28, 2020 at Barangay Tapikan, San Joaquin.
Police conducting border control checkpoint arrested Aaron Bearneza, the driver of the Isuzu delivery van owned by Ginebra San Miguel Corporation.
The vehicle was loaded with 103 boxes and nine bottles of assorted liquor produced by Ginebra San Miguel.
All suspects will be charged for violation of Section 14 of Executive Order No. 118 (liquor ban) issued by Governor Arthur Defensor, Jr.
They will also be slapped with a case for violation of Article 151 of the Revised Penal Code (Resistance and disobedience to a person in authority or the agents of such person).
