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[av_heading heading=’DRUGS PERVADE 143 CITY BRGYS
More ops since Oplan Double Barrel – ICPO ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY MERIANNE GRACE EREÑETA and GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
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ILOILO City – A total of 143 barangays here were affected by the drug menace, according to the Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO).
Senior Superintendent Remus Zacharias Canieso said they gathered the data from July to September this year.
“Oplan Double Barrel was a great tool that allowed us to see the real situation on the ground,” said the ICPO director.
The Philippine National Police’s intensified campaign against drug trafficking was launched on July 1.
Before Oplan Double Barrel, ICPO records showed there were 100 drug-affected barangays in the city.
A barangay is considered “drug-affected” if there is a presence of even just one suspected user and/or pusher, Canieso said.
“Indi man ini makabig nga alarming,” he said. “Amo na ini nga daan sang una. Subong lang na-highlight (because of Oplan Double Barrel).”
The ICPO director said the drug-affected barangays were classified as “slightly affected,” “moderately affected” and “severely affected” but he was not immediately able to provide details.
The ICPO presented its accomplishments in a meeting with the Iloilo City Anti-Drug Abuse Council and the City Peace and Order Council yesterday.
Of the 475,384 population here, 2,278 were identified drug personalities, ICPO records showed.
More aggressive operations against the illicit trade resulted in increased arrests, Canieso stressed.
“Subong mas nagdamo ang operations. It’s like you’ve opened an anthill. Pag-ukay, nag-gu-al ang mga subay,” he said.
Canieso claimed the ICPO stages 50 antidrug operations a month on average since the launch of Oplan Double Barrel.
Previously the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Region 6 has identified six barangays as its “major areas of concern.”
They were Bakhaw in Mandurriao district, Tanza Esperanza and Monica in City Proper, Desamparados in Jaro, South San Jose and Boulevard in Molo.
Canieso stressed the ICPO was keeping a close watch on identified drug personalities in all the drug-affected villages.
“Some of those who surrendered as a result of Oplan [Double Barrel] were already undergoing rehabilitation,” he said.
From January to September, the ICPO staged 102 buy-bust operations that resulted in the arrest of 139 suspects and the seizure of 142.63 grams of shabu.
It has also arrested five drug suspects considered “high-value targets”: Jesus Espinosa Jr., Ernie Hisugan Mamarion, Kenmark Pineda, Norberto Rolando Prevendido Jr., and Abelardo Prevendido.
Businessman Melvin “Boyet” Odicta Sr. of Tanza Esperanza — the top drug suspect in Region 6 — was shot to death by still unidentified assailants on Aug. 29 at a jetty port in Barangay Caticlan, Malay, Aklan. (With Resel Joy Tianero/PN)
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