Monday, November 12, 2007
PDEA 7 conducts 105 busts despite lack of personnel
THOUGH lacking in personnel, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) 7 still managed to come up with its own accomplishments.
In her report to the Regional Peace and Order Council, PDEA 7 officer-in-charge Jennifer Rosales said that from July to October this year, they made 105 anti-drug operations.
Of the number, 63 were buy busts, eight were raids covered by search warrants, and 32 were arrests of persons “caught in plain view.”
PDEA 7 also arrested a total of 117 offenders, 12 of whom were in its watch list.
Of the 117 arrested persons, 67 were drug pushers, 45 were users, and five were considered traffickers or importers.
A total of 157 cases were filed in court.
PDEA 7 also destroyed 1,856.57 grams of shabu and 4,521.15 grams of marijuana.
Rosales reported that based on national statistics, PDEA 7 has the most successful conviction rate of 60 percent of those it arrested and sued.
Expensive
Also, she said that the price of methamphetamine hydrochloride is increasing, and expected a more expensive shabu towards the end of the year until February.
The illegal drug is currently sold at P6,000 per gram while marijuana is at P50 per gram.
Among the problems of PDEA 7 is that it only has a few personnel, who are also tied up with court duties.
And civilian assets were reported to conduct their own operations for extortion activities using the agency’s name and that of other law enforcement units.
PDEA 7, Rosales added, used to have problems with police units’ compliance in submitting spot reports within six hours of any drug operation.
For its part, the Cebu City Police Office considered the arrest of two noted drug pushers as some of its biggest accomplishments this year.
Ecstasy
Paulo Calunsag was arrested with two others and yielded more than a half-kilo of shabu. And DJ Congmon had with him 48 ecstasy tablets when caught in an uptown bar recently.
From January to October, CCPO arrested 56 drug pushers and 485 users, seized 668.45 grams of shabu, 300 grams and 1008 sticks of marijuana, 48 tablets of ecstacy, 63 Nubain ampules, and cans of rugby. It filed 405 cases against offenders.
As for the Cebu Police Provincial Office (CPPO), which considers illegal drugs “one of the most serious threats to the peace and order situation in Cebu Province,” it conducted 212 anti-illegal drug operations.
It arrested 290 persons and seized items worth P1,661,660.
The two police offices also reported accomplishments in illegal gambling, loose firearms, wanted persons and violations to environmental laws.
Arrests
The CCPO arrested 158 persons in its anti-gambling operations; seized 153 video carrera machines and around P5,000 in bet money; and filed 71 cases.
It also seized 92 guns, found 23 grenades and vintage bombs, and arrested 90 persons who were all sued in court.
The CPPO, on the other hand, made 161 anti-gambling operations; arrested 198 persons; filed 70 cases; and seized seven video carrera machines, playing cards, masiao tip and tally sheets, and P38,887 in bet money.
“The ills of illegal gambling are such that they spawn so many other crimes, from petty to serious, not to mention the long-term effect on the morals of our youth who find themselves lured by the chance of winning money without having to work hard for it,” said CPPO Director Carmelo Valmoria in his report.
In the campaign against loose firearms, the CPPO’s “earnest campaign” netted 167 persons from January to October after 162 operations. It seized or recovered 221 firearms, 93 of which were high-powered guns.
Also, of the 793 arrest warrants issued for CCPO to implement, 658 were served. The CPPO accounted for 819 wanted persons. (MEA)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (November 12, 2007 issue)
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