NBI files anew drug raps vs. Kerwin Espinosa, 6 others

Espinosa is currently under detention at the NBI jail while Wu Tuan Yuan is at the New Bilibid Prison. (PNA file photo by Avito C.Dalan)

MANILA — The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Wednesday filed another criminal complaint before the Department of Justice (DOJ) against self-confessed drug lord Roland “Kerwin” Espinosa and some drug kingpins in Cebu City who operated there from 2008 to 2011.

Aside from Espinosa, named in the charge sheet were Wu Tuan Yuan a.k.a Peter Co; Lovely Adam Impal, Melvin Gerpacio, Ryan Diaz, Reynaldo C. Diaz a.k.a. Jumbo, and Peter Go Lim.

The NBI recommended charges of violation of Republic Act 9165 otherwise known as the Comprehensive Drugs Act of 2002 particularly its provisions covering the sale and delivery of dangerous drugs and or controlled precursors and essential chemicals used by drug syndicates and financiers in transactions involving the illegal trafficking of drugs.

The NBI said that Kerwin in 2008 started his large scale shabu trade in Cebu City while inside the Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center where he was detained pending drug charges before the Cebu Regional Trial Court Branch 13. His alleged suppliers were Lim, Impal and slain Cebu drug lord Jeffrey “Jaguar ” Diaz.

Espinosa is currently under detention at the NBI jail while Wu Tuan Yuan is at the New Bilibid Prison. Impal is currently detained at the Iligan City Jail while Gerpacio is at the Cavite Provincial Jail.

Among the pieces of evidence presented was the testimony of state witness Reynaldo Diaz who confirmed that Espinosa’s main source was his cousin, Jeffrey, and Lim.

Diaz also claimed that at the peak of the Cebu drug trade from 2010 to 2011, the group was able to sell five to 10 kilos of shabu a month.

Aside from Espinosa, Diaz claimed that Jeffrey also supplied to drug dealers in the Visayas namely Rowen Sakitaria aka Yawa, Franz Sabalones; and three men known by the aliases ‘Riking’, ‘Rey’ and ‘Roland’.

Also presented was the Securities and Exchange Commission general information sheet of Hilton Heavy Equipment Corp. listing Peter G. Lim of San Jose de la Montana, Mabolo, Cebu City as its president and a member of the board of directors.

Kerwin used cellphones, electronic money transfer and bank transactions in his drug trade and hired Melvin Gerpacio to distribute and collect payments in Barangays Pasil, Ermita, Ponce, Villagonzalo and Lorega in Cebu City, the NBI said.

The bank accounts of Kerwin and Peter Co were frozen by the Court of Appeals in January 2017.