PDEA TARGETS 5 WV DRUG GROUPS Odicta, Prevendido minions ‘regroup’

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BY RUBY SILUBRICO
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Sunday, November 12, 2017
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ILOILO City – Their leaders may be dead but remnants of the Odicta and Prevendido drug groups continue to operate, according to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Region 6.

These two groups were among the five in Western Visayas that government antidrug operatives were currently trying to neutralize, PDEA regional director Wardley Getalla disclosed to Panay News.

Apparently, according to Getalla, their minions have recovered from the deaths of Melvin “Boyet” Odicta Sr. and Richard Prevendido.

Base sa revelation ng ating nahuling remnants of these two groups operating in Iloilo City, they have regrouped, at iyan ngayon ang tina-target natin na mahuli,” Getalla said.

Other drug groups the PDEA Region 6 was going after were the Bolivar group in Iloilo province, one from Capiz and another from Negros Occidental.

Getalla refused to disclose the names of the drug groups in the latter two provinces.

These five drug groups were hiring and deploying new peddlers – including minors – who were still off the radars of the PDEA and the police, Getalla said, citing intelligence information.

Odicta and Prevendido were among the casualties when the Philippine National Police (PNP) started an intensified antidrug operation at the beginning of the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte in 2016.

Odicta – also identified as “Dragon” – and wife Meriam were killed by still unidentified shooters at the Caticlan Jetty Port in Malay, Aklan on Aug. 29 last year.

Prevendido – also known as “Buang” – on the other hand, died in a shootout with police officers out to serve him an arrest warrant on Sept. 1 in a house he was renting at Landheights Subdivision, Barangay Balabago, Jaro district.

Early in October Duterte ordered the PNP, Armed Forces of the Philippines, National Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Customs, and all other agencies or ad hoc task forces to stop conducting antidrug operations.

The PDEA shall be “the sole agency that can conduct antidrug operations pursuant to Republic Act (RA) 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002,” the President stated in a memo dated Oct. 10.

Getalla admitted they were having difficulty arresting these drug groups without sufficient personnel, and information and intelligence monitoring support from the police.

Mahirap pero gagawan natin ng paraan para mahuli ang mga high-value targets,” he told Panay News. “We start sa street pushers to get information para makapag-build up tayo.”

Recent arrests by the PDEA Region 6 include a construction worker from Lapuz district, a motorboat operator from Buenavista, Guimaras, and a motorcycle driver from Pototan, Iloilo.

Meanwhile, Getalla said he was dismayed that barangay officials were being uncooperative.

No barangay captain, kagawad (councilmen) or tanod (watchmen) have gone to the PDEA Region 6 to report drug personalities in their villages, he claimed.

Nakakalungkot lang na walang barangay officials na may lakas ng loob na pumunta ng (PDEA) office para magbigay ng names ng mga pushers sa area nila, or mag-text man lang, at least one way of showing us that they are really against illegal drugs,” said Getalla.

He appealed to everyone, including the press, to provide information on illegal drug-related activities in their communities.

“We assure the secrecy and confidentiality of their identities,” Getalla stressed. “Alam naman natin na natatakot sila magbigay [ng names] dahil sa kanilang security.”/PN
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