ILOILO City – Eleven more police officers in Western Visayas are being linked to illegal drugs.
According to the Police Regional Office 6’s (PRO-6) Regional Drug Enforcement Unit (RDEU), three of the 11 police officers were in Roxas City, three in the province of Iloilo, two at the regional police command in Camp Delgado, two in Iloilo City, and one in Guimaras.
RDEU chief Senior Inspector Kennith Bermejo declined to identify these police officers. He said validation is ongoing.
“All reports reaching our office regarding our colleagues are being reviewed. These need a series of monitoring and investigation. Hindi lang kita basta-basta mag-conduct sang operation,” said Bermejo.
He did not discount the possibility that some of these police officers may just be victims of ill-motivated individuals.
“Gina-review kag assess gid naton kay basi ang iban pakalain lang,” said Bermejo.
He made the revelation a day after a police officer assigned at the Regional Headquarters Support Group of the PRO-6 confessed to being a shabu peddler to further support his family.
The 41-year-old Police Officer 2 Stephen Magno of Barangay San Juan, Molo district was taken to the Arevalo police station after he was caught on Monday.
According to Magno, he had two young sons to support. His wife was an overseas Filipino worker.
“Marami pa sila dyan so dapat mahuli natin sila. We do not tolerate police officers involved in illegal drugs,” said Chief Superintendent Cesar Hawthorne Binag, PRO-6 director.
An “asset” of the RDEU bought from Magno a sachet of shabu for P2,000 in Barangay Calaparan, Arevalo.
Thirty-three more shabu sachets valued at P70,000 were recovered from the suspect’s possession.
“He was in our list of suspected drug personalities but as a user,” said Bermejo.
Two “positive test buys”, however, led the RDEU to suspect that Magno was also peddling shabu. A buy-bust operation was then planned.
Magno faces a charge for violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
“This is only shows that we have no biases in our campaign against illegal drugs. Kahit sino pa man basta involved sa illegal drugs, we have to arrest them,” said Binag./PN
