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[av_heading heading=’ ‘ILOILO SHABU FROM M’NAO’ 5 drug groups in province – IPPO ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=’30’ subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY RUBY P. SILUBRICO
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ILOILO – Five drug groups continue to operate in the province, according to the Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO) two days after President Rodrigo Duterte said illegal drugs in Iloilo were “medyo wala na.”
These groups’ source of shabu is Mindanao, said Chief Inspector Charlie Sustento of the IPPO’s Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit based in northern Iloilo.
From Mindanao, couriers transport the shabu to Iloilo through Cebu, Dumaguete City and Bacolod City, said Sustento, citing information from arrested drug suspects.
During a private dinner at Malacañang Park late Monday night, Duterte told reporters, “Ang mga mayors d’yan pati barangay captains…‘Di ba sinabi ko sa inyo Iloilo was the hotbed (of illegal drugs)? Ngayon medyo wala na, wala na (Now, it’s kind of waning).”
From Mindanao, shabu enters Iloilo through seaports and this is then forwarded to distributors in five towns of the 5th District (northern Iloilo) – Sara, San Dionisio, Estancia, Carles, and Balasan, said Sustento.
“All these information were culled from drug pushers we arrested. They told us how their groups operate and where their supplies come from,” said Sustento in a telephone interview.
Incidentally at the Senate on Tuesday, a “fixer” who admitted helping smuggle into the country P6.4 billion worth of shabu from China told the blue ribbon committee he gave payoffs to members of the so-called “Davao Group” in the Bureau of Customs so that shipments he would bring in won ‘t be checked.
Mark Ruben Taguba II confessed helping bring in 604 kilos of shabu that got past the Customs on May 17 and ended up at a warehouse in Valenzuela City, Metro Manila.
According to Sustento, the Prevendido group is headed by fugitive suspected drug lord Richard Prevendido while the Balume group is led by another fugitive, Arturo Balume alias Master Pedic.
The three other groups are primarily based in Capiz province, Metro Manila and Bacolod City but they have local contacts that distribute the shabu for them, said Sustento.
To elude detection and arrest, they tap the services of people not known to the police for illegal drug activities, he added.
Sustento believes Prevendido has not left Region 6 and has trusted “runners” and couriers doing the legwork for their illegal drug activities.
On Aug. 12 around 10:30 p.m., Prevendido group suspected runner Ruel Deocampo of Barangay Calaigang, San Rafael, Iloilo was busted by Sustento’s unit.
“Prevendido is still here operating pero indi na masyado ka baskog ang iya pagbaligaya. Madamo police units naga-hunting sa iya. His drug operation has really slowed down,” said Sustento.
According to the President, one of reasons for the waning of illegal drugs in Iloilo was the death of suspected drug lord Melvin Odicta Sr. He described Odicta as a “big fish” and source of shabu proliferating in areas west of Cebu.
Unidentified gunmen shot to death Odicta at the jetty port of Caticlan, Malay, Aklan on Aug. 29, 2016 three weeks after Duterte called Iloilo “most shabulized” and publicly linked four Iloilo mayors to illegal drugs – Alex Centena of Calinog, Jed Patrick Mabilog of Iloilo City, Sigfriedo Betita of Carles, and Mariano Malones of Maasin.
The four mayors vehemently denied being illegal drug protectors.
Over a year after the President named and shamed them, his accusation remains unsubstantiated and no charges have been filed against Mabilog, Malones, Betita, and Centena./PN
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