ON TUESDAY, March 5, I wrote in my Super B column about the terrifying situation we are now in with the entry of cocaine into the country and the continued proliferation and distribution of shabu despite the relentless campaign of President Duterte to put a stop to the illegal drug trade that resulted in many deaths of those who fought it out with law enforcement agents.
What’s even hard to believe is the fact that students are being used by illegal drug traders as distributors. On Sunday, March 3, three students, aged 21 and a minor, were arrested by the Lapu-Lapu City police during a buy-bust operation. Seized from them was shabu valued at P2.4 million. The students are from Barangay Duljo-Fatima in Cebu City, a known drug lair.
Members of the Lapu-Lapu City Drug Enforcement Unit and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency 7 (Pdea) arrested the suspects, who also yielded P3,000 in cash. Reports have it that the three students were identified by a pusher, who was caught in an operation in Barangay Poblacion the day before.
Consider that also on Sunday, police and the Pdea, in separate operations in Inayawan, Cebu City and Casili, Consolacion, confiscated shabu with a total value of P190 million. Elymar Ancajas was arrested in Inayawan in possession of shabu valued at P122.4 million. Later, Jocelyn Encila was arrested with 10 kilos of shabu worth P68 million. Ancajas pointed to Encila as his source of the illegal drugs.
The police, without a court order, confiscated Encila’s Toyota Fortuner, Toyota Grandia, and Nissan SR SUV and jewelry. According to PRO 7 Director Debold Sinas, Encila does not have the financial capacity to acquire these things. Reports have it that Encila also owns two huge houses in a subdivision.
But Sinas said they would return the vehicles and jewelry if Encila could show proof that these were pawned to her. Sinas believed these things were acquired by Encila using drug proceeds. Under these circumstances, lawyers would perhaps shy away from assisting Encila.
Encila, in a statement to SunStar Cebu, said: “I’m not involved in this, especially my parents. I was just dragged into it. The evidence was not seized from our house. The house is owned by my sister, who is upset and flying home because of this.”
What worries me most, if not all of us concerned citizens, is the fact that the supply of illegal drugs like shabu has not waned despite the passionate efforts, coupled with threats, of the Duterte administration to “kill” the people behind this menace sooner than later. Where or who is the infinite source of shabu or any illegal drugs is a question that everyone wants to know the answer to.
Have the police, the Pdea and other law enforcement agencies of government ever identified the source of the illegal drugs? If they have the identities of the sources, why can’t they charge or hang these people to put an end to the menace? Yes, I may sound too simplistic, but what I know is that there are always solutions to every problem.
As a lawyer, I have second thoughts on the move to name the politicians who have links to illegal drug traders before they are charged with a crime. But for voters to know who they are voting for, I think the Department of the Interior and Local Government should reveal their names now and let those aggrieved go to court.