Kerwin Espinosa, 6 others facing raps over Cebu City drug trade

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Wednesday filed a complaint against self-confessed drug distributor Kerwin Espinosa, wanted businessman Peter Go Lim, and five others over the Cebu City illegal drug trade.

In a complaint filed at the Department of Justice, the NBI accused Espinosa of illegally trading shabu in Cebu City while detained at the Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center for another case. 

The NBI said the offense was committed from 2008 to 2011.

Wu Tuan Yuan alias Peter Co, a convicted drug lord; Lovely Adam Impal, Melvin Gerpacio, Ryan Diaz, Reynaldo Diaz aka Jumbo, and Lim were also named as respondents.

The bureau alleged Jeffrey "Jaguar" Diaz through Ryan and Reynaldo Diaz, Lim, Impal, and Co supplied shabu to Espinosa and that Gerpacio served as his distributor and payment collector.

Jaguar, a top drug personality in Central Visayas, was killed in 2016.

Co is detained at the New Bilibid Prison. Lim, who faces charges for conspiracy to commit illegal drug trading, is still at large.

Co and Lim were once named by Solicitor General Jose Calida as two of the country's top drug dealers.

"Kerwin used cellphone, electronic money transfer and bank transactions in his drug trade and hired Melvin Gerpacio to distribute shabu and collect payments in Barangay Pasil, Barangay Ermita, Barangay Ponce, Barangay Villagonzalo and Barangay Lorega-San Miguel, Cebu City," the NBI claimed.

Espinosa and 25 others, including six police officers who protected him, were the subject of another NBI complaint last month over their alleged involvement in the Eastern Visayas drug trade.

Kerwin is the son of the late Albuera, Leyte mayor Rolando Espinosa, whom President Rodrigo Duterte early in his presidency tagged in the illegal drug trade. The elder Espinosa was killed in a jail in Leyte in November 2016.

Kerwin faces several charges in different courts, including conspiracy to commit illegal drug trading with Co Impal, Lim, Ruel Malindangan, and his former aide, Marcelo Adorco. —NB, GMA News