National Police chief Gen. Camilo Pancratius Cascolan (File photo)
MANILA – A series of anti-illegal drug operations conducted by the different police operatives last week resulted in the confiscation of around PHP39 million worth of shabu, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Camilo Pancratius Cascolan said on Monday
In a press briefing at Camp Crame, Cascolan said based on his 3-point strategy which sets the PNP strategic direction in implementing the national campaign against illegal drugs, the PNP sustains the momentum of police operations with a greater focus on high-value targets engaged in trafficking and distribution of illegal drugs.
He said the PNP units’ weeklong operations against high-value drug personalities and other individuals involved in the illegal drug trade yielded a total of 5,732.12 grams of crystal meth estimated to worth PHP38,978,416 in the streets.
Among these operations was the arrest of Carlos Tuazon, Melvin Almario, and Cedric Pe during a buy-bust operation conducted by Novaliches Police Station on Sept. 9, 2020 at PTT Gasoline Station located along Quirino Highway, Barangay San Bartolome, Novaliches, Quezon City. The three suspects were caught in possession of 422.15 grams of shabu with a street value of PHP2.9 million.
He said the PNP anti-illegal drugs campaign will be carried out with renewed vigor and aggressiveness with the PNP Drug Enforcement Group leading the charge against the drug syndicates and its network of suppliers, peddlers, patrons, and all other persons involved in illegal drugs including PNP personnel.
Cascolan said since July 2016, a total of 454 PNP personnel were found positive for drug use during periodic and random drug testing, 429 of whom were meted the penalty of dismissal from service.
In a related development, National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Maj. Gen. Debold Sinas on Monday said operatives of Quezon City Police District (QCPD) seized around PHP27-million worth of shabu abandoned in Barangay Paligsahan in Quezon City.
Sinas said policemen assigned at the Kamuning Police Station received a report while on a regular beat patrol about a suspicious woman walking on the ledge of the second floor of a building along Quezon Avenue at around 10:30 a.m. on Saturday (Sept. 12).
The informant said the person was carrying a black bag and came out of unit 31 I-A which has long been long vacant. When she saw the police, the woman jumped over the wall of the adjacent property and escaped but left the bag she was carrying on the roof.
Police found four kilograms of shabu with an estimated street value of around PHP27.2-million inside the bag.
The police agents also inspected the unit where the woman came from and found a bag with a police clearance identification card belonging to Eveline Ariola Santos, 53, resident of Pasig City.
The informant said the woman in the ID photo is the same person as the one who escaped and left the illegal contraband.
Police are now conducting a hot pursuit operation against the suspect.
Sinas commended the successful and immediate response of Kamuning Police Station 10.
“This only proves that despite the stringent call of duty in the frontlines amid this pandemic, NCPRO did not lax in its anti-illegal drugs and anti-criminality effort to keep the Metro safe. I would also like to thank the public for continuously supporting Team NCRPO, thereby ensuring the safety and security of the Metro,” he said. (PNA)
