Bicol police cite gains in antidrug operations

THE GOVERNMENT’S crackdown on drug traffickers in Bicol has netted 6,336 grams of illegal drugs worth P37.2 million seized in operations across the region in 2014, the Philippine National Police said on Monday.

Chief Supt. Victor Deona, PNP regional director, said the intensified campaign, which began last year, had also resulted in the arrest of 798 people, of whom 492 were drug peddlers and 306 users.

“The successful operation was in line with the agency performance target agreement with various police chiefs under the PNP Patrol Plan 2030 giving priority to the fight versus illegal drug,” Deona said.

In South Cotabato province, police arrested a man for possession of P25 million worth of “shabu” (methamphetamine hydrochloride) in a remote village in Sto. Niño town on Saturday.

Johney Mantawil, 32, long wanted for alleged involvement in the illegal drugs trade, fell in government hands in Purok Malipayon in Barangay Ambalgan after a four-month-long surveillance, said Chief Insp. Joel Fuerte, the municipal police chief. The suspect denied the charge.

The lawmen presented Mantawil with a warrant of arrest issued by Judge Roberto Ayco of the Regional Trial Court Branch 26.

In February, police missed by five minutes the chance to arrest Mantawil in Ambalgan after a drug buy bust operation. A search in his home yielded

P25 million worth of shabu and drug paraphernalia.

At least 500 grams of shabu, valued at P1 million, were seized from two couriers at a police checkpoint in Guimba, Nueva Ecija province, on Sunday, police said.

The haul was found in a plastic box in a car driven by Arthur Corpuz, said Chief Supt. Roland Santos, officer in charge of the Central Luzon police, citing the report of Supt. Ricardo Villanueva, Guimba police chief.

Policemen reported finding a grenade inside Corpuz’s car when it was flagged down and searched in Barangay Cavite in Guimba at 3 p.m. Sunday.

Deona vowed there would be no let up in the campaign in Bicol, citing the raids in Masbate in February that led to the discovery of two shabu laboratories suspected to have been operated by prominent persons in the province.

The raids in two compounds in Masbate City led to the arrests of Lester Abapo, a former mayor of Milagros town, and his cousin, Cherry Boy Abapo, a former mayor of San Fernando, both of Masbate. Reports from Mar S. Arguelles, Inquirer Southern Luzon; Edwin O. Fernandez, Inquirer Mindanao; and Tonette Orejas and Armand Galang, Inquirer Central Luzon