MANILA -- The SM Development Corporation and law enforcement agencies forged a partnership to stop the use of high-end condominium units as drug dens by syndicates.
SMDC, in a statement Monday, said one of the arrangements they made with the government’s law enforcement agencies is to coordinate for any anti-illegal drug operations that will be undertaken within their premises.
This will provide law enforcers the clearance to go inside the target units from the security managers and conduct the operations without interference from existing SMDC security protocols.
“We believe that this coordination serves as the best middle ground between the mandate of the government to run after criminal elements and our responsibility to protect the owners of our properties,” the property developer stated.
Such arrangement has resulted in the smooth conduct of operations in the past month, meaning, other condominium unit owners were not disturbed, and in fact, were not even aware that an operation was conducted.
In return, SMDC has been conducting a series of training programs and seminars not only for their security guards but also for all the staff of their properties.
The training and seminars include inviting resource speakers from the Philippine National Police, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, and the National Bureau of Investigation to teach security guards and other employees on the basics of detection of any criminal activities being done inside their respective properties.
Those activities, according to SMDC, have been extended to owners of its properties, citing the need for all occupants to watch each other’s back under their Community Protection program.
Last year, government anti-narcotics agents have stated to arrest a number of big-time drug pushers and confiscation of the multi-million worth of illegal drugs in various raids in condominium units in Metro Manila.
Recent operations include the PHP204 million worth of shabu seized in a Pasig City condo unit and the more than PHP455 million worth of shabu in a subdivision in Las Pinas City.
At the course of the investigation, then National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) director Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar said that big-time drug pushers have been choosing condo units and other tightly-guarded communities as their hideouts.
In one of the raids, it was Eleazar who encouraged an official of the SMDC to start a partnership with the police and other law enforcement agencies, particularly in the aspect of illegal drugs campaign launched by President Duterte. (PNA)
