Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Focus on Pasil: 5 of 15 top players on illegal drugs ‘based in that bry.’
Of the 15 top drug personalities in Cebu City, five are operating in Barangay Pasil.
And no less than a relative of the barangay captain is involved in the illegal trade, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña revealed yesterday.
City Councilor Augustus Pe Jr., in an interview, said that at least five big-time drug pushers are based in Pasil, one of the depressed barangays of the City.
Pe heads the City council committee on dangerous drugs.
He did not name names, but the mayor, in a press conference, said a close relative of Barangay Captain Romeo Ocarol is into the illegal drug trade.
Sun.Star Cebu tried contacting Ocarol for comment but repeated calls to his cellular phone went unanswered. His home phone was also under repair and nobody answered the barangay hall’s telephone.
A police official, in a separate interview, confirmed a close relative of Ocarol is in the watchlist of the city’s top five suspected players in the illegal drug industry. The official declined to be identified.
Yesterday, the mayor expressed disgust with Ocarol for his failure to stop the proliferation of illegal gambling machines in his barangay.
“Ocarol is a problem barangay captain. His brother is heavily involved in illegal drugs. It doesn’t mean that it’s election time, he thinks that I am afraid. I don’t need friends like that,” he said.
The mayor did not reveal whom he was referring to, and Pe said he could not divulge confidential information.
In a related development, a surprise drug test on 73 butchers and personnel of the City’s Department of Veterinary Medicine and Fisheries was made last Monday and early morning yesterday.
A butcher tested positive. If a confirmatory test shows he has used illegal drugs, the mayor promised he will have the casual employee fired from work. (RHM with MEA)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (April 5, 2006 issue)
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