QCPD nabs ex-policeman with ‘ninja cop’ network

A former policeman dismissed from the service three years ago was arrested in an antidrug operation in Quezon City on Tuesday afternoon.

Wilborn Lava, 46, was a Police Officer 3 who had logged 17 years of service before he was dismissed for going Awol (absent without official leave) in 2015.

A team from QCPD’s Masambong station entrapped Lava in a buy-bust operation on Tuktokan Street, Masambong.

Seized from Lava were two sachets of “shabu” (crystal meth) worth P28,000.

Chief Supt. Guillermo Eleazar, district director, said Lava became a high-value QCPD target in 2016 after he was linked to a network of “ninja cops” or officers who resell illegal drugs seized in operations.

“We received information that he was involved in the activities of his batchmates who had become ninja cops,” Eleazar told the Inquirer. “He later acquired his own network and got heavily involved after his dismissal.”

Lava last reported to the human resources division of the National Capital Region Police Office.

Last Sunday, an active policeman, PO1 Christopher Guevarra of the Philippine National Police Maritime Group, was arrested also in Quezon City with nine other alleged drug users in Barangay Payatas.

In March, PO2 Joseph Soriano and SPO1 Eduardo Valle were caught in a drug bust in Barangay Soccoro. —Jhesset O. Enano