LUCENA CITY –– The four-day “simultaneous anti-criminality law enforcement operation” (Sacleo) in Quezon province has led to the arrests of 229 suspected criminals, police said Wednesday.
Colonel Audie Madrideo, Quezon police director, reported that the synchronized operations in 39 towns and two cities from September 18 to 21 resulted in the arrests of 41 suspected drug pushers.
The police also arrested 61 wanted criminals, one of whom reportedly died in a shootout; 68 illegal gamblers; 12 with illegal firearms, which led to the seizure of six undocumented guns; 39 illegal fishers; and eight illegal loggers.
At least 443 persons were also arrested for violation of quarantine and other safety and health protocols amid the coronavirus disease pandemic, while 76 were caught for violating local ordinances, such as the curfew ordinance now in place in the province during this period.
The arrested crime suspects were all placed in jail. The quarantine and ordinance violators paid fines and rendered community service. No jail time was imposed on them to avoid possible virus infection of other inmates, police said.
Sacleo replaced the police “one-time, big-time operation,” an all-out war against all local forms of criminalities in a given period.