Drug dealers seen behind grenade attacks at Manila police stations

MANILA — Drug dealers wanting to get back at the police are most likely behind the series of grenade attacks against police stations in Manila, according to Supt. Edilberto Leonardo of the Manila Police District.

On Monday night, a grenade was thrown at the Pandacan police station in Manila, making it the fourth station in the city to be attacked similarly.

The grenade, lobbed at about 9:45 p.m., was a dud and no one was hurt. Leonardo said drug dealers whose business was hurt by police operations against illegal drugs were probably behind the attacks.

“It’s been a pattern. This always happens every time a police station intensifies its campaign against illegal drugs,” he said.

On Monday, two men on board a motorcycle threw the grenade at a police mobile car in front of the police station on Jesus Street.

“The back rider, after throwing the grenade, immediately pulled out a gun and fired a shot in the air and sped toward Labores street,” Edilberto said in his official report.

Stations 7 (Abad Santos), 6 (Sta. Ana), and 1 (Raxabago) had been attacked with grenades recently. In all cases, the grenades were hung fire, meaning they were live grenades but they failed to explode.

Leonardo said they have not identified the perpetrators because the camera footage provided by the barangay was not clear.  SFM