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[av_heading heading=’‘BUANG’ STILL A PUZZLE FOR PDEA’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=’30’ subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’18’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=” av-medium-font-size-title=” av-small-font-size-title=” av-mini-font-size-title=” av-medium-font-size=” av-small-font-size=” av-mini-font-size=” admin_preview_bg=”]
BY RUBY P. SILUBRICO
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February 10, 2018
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ILOILO City – He may be dead but slain drug lord Richard “Buang” Prevendido of Barangay Bakhaw, Mandurriao district remains an intriguing personality.
According to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), Prevendido left several properties in Barangay Bakhaw but not in his name.
These properties included houses and businesses, said David Abraham Garcia, spokesperson of PDEA Region 6.
He had dummies but no one in the barangay would say anything, said Garcia.
Prevendido’s sister Remia Prevendido Gregori is the village chief of Bakhaw. She had time and again insisted she had no idea of her brother’s activities nor was she protecting him.
According to Garcia, the drug lord apparently used dummies for his properties so as not to attract the attention of authorities and avoid raising suspicion on the sources of his wealth.
PDEA-6 is trying to account Prevendido’s properties.
The drug lord died in a shootout with policemen in Barangay Balabago, Jaro district on Sept. 1, 2017.
For months prior to his death, the police checked out several properties were Prevendido could have possibly sought refuge such as his rest house in Barangay Daragan, Buenavista, Guimaras and Crystal Cove Beach Resort in Barangay Igcadlum, San Joaquin, Iloilo said to be owned by his niece Maria Mae Gregori, a daughter of Remia.
According to Garcia, too, Prevendido may be dead but Barangay Bakhaw remains the main source of shabu in Iloilo City. The drug lord’s aides have taken over the business, he said.
September last year days after Prevendido died, sister Remia voluntarily surrendered to the Mandurriao police but vehemently denied any involvement in illegal drugs.
Accompanied by her lawyer Rameces Padilla, she underwent fingerprinting and had her mug shots taken.
According to then Mandurriao acting police chief Inspector Juan Tigaronita, Remia was a high-value target of the police in the campaign against illegal drugs.
At the time of his death, Prevendido was a fugitive charged with violating the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
Meanwhile, the Regional Drug Enforcement Unit (RDEU) of the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) agreed with PDEA’s observation that Barangay Bakhaw remained the go-to place of shabu pushers and user.
A suspected operator of a “shabu bodega” that the police caught in Arevalo district last month claimed his supply came from Barangay Bakhaw, said Senior Inspector Kennith Bermejo, RDEU chief.
“Many drug dealers arrested in this city and Iloilo province claimed Barangay Bakhaw was their source of shabu,” said Bermejo./PN
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