Navotas tops Camanava in drug arrests

A total of 160 suspects in drug-related cases were arrested in Navotas City last year, the highest number posted during the period among the cities covered by the Northern Police District (NPD).

In a statement on Sunday, the city government said among those arrested was a “middle-level drug pusher” identified as Crisanto Lazaro, a resident of Roldan Street, Barangay Tangos. Set up for entrapment in June, Lazaro yielded about a hundred grams of “shabu” with an estimated street value of P300,000.

The local government credited the success of its anti-illegal drug program to the cooperation between the police and the residents, the latter being encouraged to report drug users and peddlers through a text line: 0908-8868579.

Barangay officials are also tasked to coordinate with the Navotas Anti-Drug Abuse Council to come up with a list of notorious drug pushers and wanted persons in their area for surveillance and arrest.

The NPD covers the so-called Camanava area, or the cities of Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas and Valenzuela. Nathaniel R. Melican