(UPDATED) -- The boyfriend of May Azalia Albasin, who was murdered and thrown in a subdivision in Barangay Lawaan 1, Talisay City, was arrested in a checkpoint in Zamboanga del Norte Wednesday afternoon for carrying an unlicensed firearm.
Superintendent Jason Villameter, Talisay City police chief, said Leo Zafra, who is considered a suspect in Albasin's death, was driving a motorcycle when he was caught Wednesday, September 27, in a checkpoint in the municipality of Sergio Osmeña Sr., Zamboanga del Norte.
Chief Insp. Romar Victoriano Lim, the Sergio Osmeña Sr. town police chief, told Supervoxpop Cebu that Zafra claimed he was robbed and asked for help from residents in Barangay Venus.
Around 2 p.m., Zafra was brought to the police station where he yielded an unlicensed .38 revolver. The police then arrested him.
“Initially, mao na nga basis nga ma-hold siya. Upon interview, (he was) very confusing, makaduda ang story why naabot sa munisipyo. Iyang report nga gi-hold up siya. Walay signs nga na-hold up siya (The interview was very confusing, very dubious on why he reached the municipal building. His report was that he was robbed. But there were no signs),” Lim said.
Villameter said the checkpoint personnel asked for Zafra's identification card and confirmed he is the person whom the law enforcers are trying to locate.
Before the suspect was caught, Villameter said he had sent a picture of the businessman to the town's police station.
A team from Talisay City Police Station have been dispatched to fetch Zafra. However, Villameter did not divulge the name of the place where Zafra was caught.
Earlier, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agents obtained footage from a closed circuit television (CCTV) camera, showing Zafra standing outside a white vehicle on the spot in Barangay Lawaan where the body of Albasin was found on Tuesday morning, September 26.
The car’s license plate was also captured by a CCTV, radio dyHP reported.
When the NBI contacted the Land Transportation Office-Central Visayas, the latter confirmed that Zafra is the owner of the white vehicle.
Albasin, 33, was a lotto outlet caretaker. She had gunshot wounds in her abdomen, left thigh, and right arm.
Remy Albasin Lugan, mother of the victim, alleged that her daughter was mauled by Zafra. (KAL, DRT of Supervoxpop Cebu)