A man who last year voluntarily turned himself in for police questioning on the death of a lawyer in Dumaguete was arrested on Wednesday morning in Zamboanguita, Negros Oriental for allegedly pushing illegal drugs.
The suspect, Ian Tumapang, 34, married, and a resident of Maayong Tubig in Dauin town, was arrested during a buy- bust operation conducted by joint operatives of the Zamboanguita police station, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, the Provincial Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force and the National Bureau of Investigation.
During the buy-bust operation around 11 a.m. Wednesday along Orillano Street in the central village Poblacion 2 of Zamboanguita, the operatives confiscated two transparent plastic sachets of suspected shabu, a marked P500 bill and a 100cc motorcycle.
Authorities said Tumapang was an alleged notorious drug pusher operating in the adjacent towns of Dauin and Zamboanguita.
Sometime last year, Tumapang appeared at the Dumaguete City police station after learning authorities were looking for him for his alleged participation in the daytime gun-slay of lawyer Archer Martinez at the latter’s office in downtown Dumaguete.
Tumapang, however, was released later in the absence of grounds for the police to legitimately hold him.