BY RUBY SILUBRICO
ILOILO City – Barangay Captain Remia Gregori of Barangay Bakhaw, Mandurriao district may face criminal and administrative charges on suspicion that she was benefitting from the illegal drug trade, police said.
Investigators learned from suspects caught in Pavia, Iloilo that Gregori’s son Missy allegedly leads a drug trafficking operation.
When Missy was not around, the suspects claimed, “proceeds of shabu sale and stocks were remitted to Gregori’s house,” said Senior Inspector Kennith Bermejo, chief of the Police Regional Office 6’s Regional Drug Enforcement Unit (RDEU).
Bermejo said the RDEU and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency were currently trying to determine what charges may be filed against the village chief.
Three people were arrested in a sting operation the RDEU and the Pavia municipal police station staged at around 9:20 p.m. on March 8 in Barangay Jibao-an, Pavia, Iloilo:
* Mary Mae Avelino, 35, of Barangay Cubay, Jaro district
* Melbert “Praning” Domanillo, 25, of Barangay Desamparados, Jaro
* Angello Pullan, 16, of Barangay San Isidro, Jaro
They were detained in the custodial facility of the Pavia police station.
Avelino was the alleged “runner” of Missy Gregori, police said.
Sixty-four sachets of shabu with an estimated street value of P70,000 were seized from the suspects.
They further yielded P1,320 cash believed to be drug sale proceeds, a cellphone, a brown pouch, a weighing scale, and several money remittance transaction receipts, said the police.
Barangay Captain Gregori was the sister of drug lord Richard Prevendido who, along with son Jason, was shot during a police operation on Sept. 1 last year in Barangay Balabago, Jaro.
Based on intelligence information and the revelation of the three suspects, “the Prevendido drug group is still active, and (Barangay) Bakhaw (in Mandurriao) is its main source,” Bermejo said.
Missy Gregori allegedly has connections at the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City and in Cagayan de Oro where he gets stocks of drugs, Bermejo said, citing intelligence information.
Missy Gregori cannot be reached for comment as of this writing. Bermejo said his whereabouts are unknown.
Moreover, Bermejo said the three suspects arrested in Pavia were allegedly supplying drugs to suspects who have been previously arrested in Cabatuan and Leganes towns.
“May connection ni sila (three suspects) sa mga nadakpan dito. Sila ga-supply,” the RDEU chief said.
Avelino, Domanillo and Pullan face charges for violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002./PN
