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Monday, September 4, 2017
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ILOILO CITY – The death of drug lord Richard Prevendido is seen to reduce the supply of illegal drugs in Western Visayas by 20 to 30 percent, according to Chief Superintendent Cesar Hawthorne Binag, director of the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6).
He also expected a drop in drug-related crimes in the region.
“With the reduction in the supply (of hard drugs) and the number of those buying, we expect crimes to decrease, too,” said Binag.
But even “when he (Prevendido) was still alive, there was already a downtrend in the eight focused crimes like robbery and theft,” he stressed.
Binag recalled there was an estimated 60 percent drop in the supply of “hard drugs” in the region after suspected drug lord Melvin Odicta Sr. and wife Meriam were killed at the Caticlan jetty port in Malay, Aklan on Aug. 29, 2016.
However, Binag said, Prevendido’s death should not be a reason for policemen to be lax, adding that their anti-drug operations would continue.
New drug personalities are expected to emerge, he explained.
Still, said Binag, the neutralization of Prevendido should give the people more reason to build a positive image for Iloilo.
The neutralization of Prevendido was “ a product of our very good intelligence, the support of the community through the information they provided and the bounty,” he stressed.
The police’s next high value target, he said, is Ernesto Bolivar, also known as Erning, a suspected leader of Prevendido’s subgroup.
Iloilo, the regional center of Western Visayas, had repeatedly been tagged by President Rodrigo Duterte as the “most shabulized” and “bedrock of illegal drugs.” (PNA)
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