Bulacan PNP war on drugs: 32 suspects killed in 24 hours

Soco operatives put a tag on one of the pieces of evidence following the bloody anti-drug operations of the PNP in Bulacan. MARILAO POLICE PHOTO

(Updated 2:59 p.m., Aug. 16) Thirty-two drug suspects were killed and 107 were arrested in Bulacan from the police’s anti-drug operations conducted in a span of 24 hours.

Grenades, illegal drugs, firearms and ammunitions were recovered from “simultaneous one-time, big-time operation” by the Bulacan police from 12 m.n. of Aug. 15 to 12 m.n. of Aug. 16., the Bulacan provincial police office said in a statement on Wednesday.

READ: 21 drug suspects killed in 9 hours

The latest number of killed suspects was the result of the Bulacan Philippine National Police’s continuing effort to cleanse the province of illegal drugs.

Senior Superintendent Romeo Caramat Jr., police provincial director in Bulacan, said that 67 simultaneous police operations were conducted by 24 police stations in Bulacan including the Bulacan Provincial Intelligence Branch (PIB) and Provincial Public Safety Company (PPSC) “in an effort to continue with the relentless drive against illegal drugs, loose firearms and implementation of search warrant in the Province of Bulacan.”

“Some quarters of the society kinukwestiyon nila ba’t ganoong kalaki (Some quarters of the society are questioning the high number), we don’t have control of the situation. As much as we are preventing bloody encounter, itong mga subject namin during our one time big time operations, ito yung mga notorious dahil hindi sila papahuli ng buhay (these subjects of our one-time, big-time operations, these are the notorious who will rather fight than be caught alive),” Caramat said in a press briefing.

PNP spokesperson Chief Superintendent Dionardo Carlos said the PNP Internal Affairs Service would investigate the police operations that resulted to death of the drug suspects.

Data from Bulacan police said that a total of 367 pieces of heat-sealed transparent plastic sachets of suspected shabu approximately weighing 234.4292 grams; 765 grams of marijuana leaves; 2 grenades; 34 assorted firearms; 114 pieces of ammunition were recovered during 49 buy-bust operations, serving of 14 search warrants and three checkpoint operations.

The operations took place in Angat, Balagtas, Baliwag, Bocaue, Bustos, Calumpit, Guiguinto, Hagonoy, and Malolos. JPV