THE Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) in Negros Occidental has tightened its security measures at the seaports in the province following the arrest of a Bacolod City resident who yielded P34 million worth of suspected shabu at the wharf of Escalante City Friday, March 4, 2022.
PCG-Negros Occidental Chief Commander Joe Luviz Mercurio said narcotics detection dogs were deployed at the province's main ports of entry such as the Bredco and Banago ports in Bacolod City, Danao and Barcelona Ports in Escalante City, and San Carlos City Port.
K-9 units are continuously checking all vehicles entering these ports in cooperation with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office.
Although he admitted that they do not have enough sniffer dogs, Mercurio said they can still effectively utilize them alongside their other dogs which are used this time for detecting explosives.
He also said they may receive more K-9 units and other enhancement assets this year from their training facilities in Luzon.
On Friday, PDEA agents arrested Vicente Sepuesca in a buy-bust operation and seized several sachets of suspected shabu concealed in tea bags.
Sepuesca came from Tabuelan in Cebu where he bought construction supplies for the renovation of his house.