By Lesley Caminade Vestil
MINGLANILLA, Cebu —Police recovered high-powered firearms and explosives when they raided the house of self-confessed drug lord Franz Sabalones in Barangay Tunghaan, this town Friday.
Sabalones was not arrested during the raid, but his 33-year-old live-in partner, Wenefreda Misa, was brought in for questioning.
A team from the Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit (PDEU) of the Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) carried out the raid through a search warrant issued by Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 60 Executive Judge Leopoldo Cañete.
Recovered were a M4 rifle with 20 live rounds; a caliber .45 Remington pistol with seven ammunition; KG 9 submachine gun with 17 live rounds; a hand grenade and a cellular phone.
The high-powered firearms and grenade were found in Misa’s room.
Sr. Insp. Alejandro Batobalonos, PDEU head, told reporters they cannot arrest Misa because she was not the subject of the search warrant and she didn’t own the firearms.
The weapons will be subjected to a ballistic examination to determine if they were recently fired.
Batobalonos added that Sabalones will be charged for illegal possession of firearms and explosives.
He said Sabalones continues to visit his house every midnight, based on the subdivision’s log book.
The last time Sabalones visited the subdivision was 12:16 a.m. Thursday. He left a black car outside the subdivision.
Based on the search warrant, Sabalones owns five unlicensed firearms. Batobalonos said they will check if the recovered firearms are the ones mentioned in the warrant.
Misa was emotional when reporters sought her comment on the weapons and grenade found in her house.
Misa told reporters that she has not spoken to Sabalones for six years. The last time Sabalones contacted her was when she gave birth to their child and he shouldered the hospital expenses.
She also denied she knew Sabalones was trafficking in drug and knew him only as a businessman.