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Cebu drug lord Franz Sabalones killed in QC
Self-confessed Cebu drug lord Franz Sabalones was gunned down in Quezon City early Thursday morning, according to police authorities.
A report provided by National Capital Region Police Office chief Major General Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar to GMA News Online said the shooting incident happened around 12:08 a.m. at the corner of Scout Borromeo and Mother Ignacia in Brgy. South Triangle, Quezon City.
Quezon City Police District director Brigadier General Joselito Esquivel Jr said the victim was with his friends to watch a billiards tournament in Barangay South Triangle when he was shot in the head after alighting from their vehicle, a gray Ford Ranger. Sabalones died on the spot.
QCPD Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (CIDU) and Scene of the Crime Office (SOCO) recovered a fired cartridge case of unknown caliber.
The victim was initially identified as Jerome G. Cabilao, Jerome Sanchez Cabilao, Abdulyakin Tating Limpasan, and a resident of Calle Zaragosa Castillo Classic, BF Resort Village, Talon Dos, Las Piñas City, based on several identification cards found in his wallet.
But around 11:45 a.m., a certain Joselito Camacho Cabilao, a beautician and stay-in employee near Villamor Airbase, Pasay City, personally approached the Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit of the Quezon City Police District and identified the victim.
Cabilao said the victim is his cousin, Franz Cabilao Sabalones, 41 and a resident of San Fernando, Cebu City.
Esquivel said that Sabalones' cell phones will be submitted to the PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group for digital forensic examination, while his cadaver was brought to the PNP Crime Laboratory for autopsy.
"While we are yet to establish the real motive in the killing, we cannot discount the possibility that he was killed because of alleged involvement in the illegal drugs trade,” the police official said.
In 2016, Sabalones surrendered to then-Philippine National Police chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa and admitted that he was a drug lord in Region 7.
Sabalones said he assumed control of Cebu’s drug trade from drug kingpin Jeffrey “Jaguar” Diaz, who was killed during an encounter with police in Las Piñas in June.
He also said then that he wanted to increase his income so he separated from Diaz and tried to go directly to the supplier, Peter Co, who is currently an inmate at the New Bilibid Prison. — BM, GMA News
