Policeman and poll bet brother face drug raps

MANILA, Philippines – A policeman and his brother, a candidate for councilor in Pasay City, face various criminal charges after the former was caught dealing in drugs and the latter tried to stop the police from making an arrest.

A resident of Tramo Street, PO1 Darwin Cruzin, 37, who is detailed at the Taguig police, and his cohort and neighbor Paul Christian Gratil, 31, were caught with three sachets of “shabu” (methamphetamine hydrochloride) in a buy-bust operation on Libertad Street late Friday afternoon.

Things got complicated when a group led by Cruzin’s brother, Alvin, a candidate for Pasay councilor in next year’s elections, tried to stop the arrest.

“While the suspects were being handcuffed, kibitzers led by [Alvin] appeared and tried to rescue the suspects, creating alarm,” said Southern Police District director Chief Supt. Benito Estipona in a text message.

Local police reported they confiscated two guns from Alvin’s group.

Estipona said Cruzin and Gratil face charges of illegal drug pushing and illegal drug possession, while Alvin faces charges obstruction of justice and direct assault upon persons in authority.

The arrest, executed by the local station’s Anti-Illegal Drugs unit, has been long in coming. Pasay police officer-in-charge Senior Superintendent Rodolfo Llorca said that the suspects have been the subject of many citizen complaints in the area.

“There were many people who were complaining about them over the years, but they were untouchables,” Llorca said in a telephone interview.

He attributed the eventual arrests to a change of leadership in the local and regional police.