Graduate of PMAMaagap Class of 1973, notable police assignment of Lapeña was being the Davao City Police Chief under then-MayorRodrigo Duterte.[1] Lapeña's batchmates are former police general Thompson Lantion, and former DefenseSecretaryDelfin Lorenzana.[2] Lapeña also served as Directorate for Operations,[3] and later served as deputy chief for operations and retired on January 2, 2007, with the rank of Deputy Director General (3-star rank).[4]
He was reassigned at Bureau of Customs on August 30, 2017.[2] But, in 2018, he was implicated in the Custom's drug smuggling scandal, and other officials for smuggling of the ₱11 billion worth of methamphetamine, locally known as shabu which was discovered inside the magnetic lifters in a warehouse in General Mariano Alvarez, Cavite.[7] He claimed it was only a demolition job against him,[8] will not resign, and did not show up in the Senate probe.[9] The Department of Justice later halted probe process, after Lapeña was reassigned.[10]