ILOILO City – The police officer arrested in an anti-drug buy-bust operation on May 22 in Barangay North Fundidor, Molo district tested positive for illegal drug use.
“The drug test result will be used as additional evidence that indeed he was engaged in illegal drugs. Ginakasubo naton ang iya nadangatan,” said Police Lieutenant Arnel Solis, spokesperson of the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6).
He was referring to Police Staff Sergeant Igmedio Cristobal, a resident of Barangay Jereos, La Paz district and assigned at the PRO-6’s Regional Personnel Holding and Accounting Unit (RPHAU).
Cristobal, 40, was busted by the PRO-6’s Regional Drug Enforcement Unit (RDEU) led by Lieutenant Colonel Mark Anthony Darroca.
The RDEU recovered a total of 17 sachets of suspected shabu, including the buy-bust item, weighing 55 grams.
The total value of the confiscations reached P374,000.
The suspect was placed under surveillance for weeks and a test-buy was also conducted.
Administrative and criminal cases were already filed against him.
PNP officer-in-charge Lieutenant General Vicente Danao Jr. admitted that despite efforts to weed out rogue officers, there were still some involved in illegal drugs and other schemes.
In a speech in Camp Crame, Danao again warned erring cops to shape up or face the consequences.
“There are still some, paisa-isa na napakatitigas ng ulo n’yo. You will reap what you want. I am telling you, all right. Ngayon kapag ayaw n’yo talaga magbago, ibibigay ko iyong gusto n’yo,” Danao said.
The PNP OIC again went as far as to threaten dire consequences for scalawags, typical of the tough-talking rhetoric he has used since his days as Davao police chief under then-mayor Rodrigo Duterte.
“Ayaw n’yo magbago, babaguhin ko buhay niyo. Kung hindi niyo babaguhin, palitan ko birthday n’yo. Hindi ako nagbibiro,” he said./PN
