Cops thank Mandaluyong residents for arrest of drug syndicate members

Mugshots of the 14 suspects arrested in a series of police operations. PHOTOS BY MANDALUYONG POLICE

A notorious drug syndicate has been “70-percent destroyed” thanks to the cooperation of barangay officials and residents in Mandaluyong City.

Senior Supt. Moises Villaceran, Mandaluyong police chief, said 14 members of the Junnel Adriano drug group have been arrested in a series of weeklong buy-busts in the city.

Their latest arrest was Manuel Tumawas at Block 38, Sitaw Street in Welfare Ville Compound, Barangay Addition Hills around 10 p.m. on Thursday.

In an interview on Thursday, Villaceran said Tumawas, 39, was the right-hand man of Adriano’s group and also included as a drug pusher and user in the barangay’s drug watch list.

Police seized from Tumawas 17 sachets of crystal meth (shabu), weighing 106 grams worth about P531,000.

Villaceran said the series of drug stings were brought about after a netizen posted on Facebook last week a two-minute video of drug transactions led by Adriano and his group at Block 37 Avocado Street in Barangay Addition Hills.

The uploader even noted that “the drug sales were rampant, and even our narrow alleys were converted to cara y cruz gambling areas, with a barangay tanod volunteer even participating.”

From April 7, anti-drugs personnel caught the other 13 members of Adriano’s group in separate drug stings in Barangays Addition Hills, San Jose and Barangka-Ibaba.

All admitted to police that the source of their shabu was Adriano, the police chief said.

“The arrests were successfully carried out not only because of the information shared by the arrested drug suspects, but also because of the cooperation of barangay officials and residents,” Villaceran said.

“They would even text us, the police, that a drug transaction was already ongoing, so the suspects were caught in the act and arrests were swiftly made,” he added.

Adriano, however, remains at large. “We will continue to find him. Adriano and his remaining members will be subject of our manhunt operations,” Villaceran said.

The 30-year-old Adriano was arrested on June 12, 2017 for a pending warrant for a robbery case. He was able to post bail. He also had pending cases for theft and drug pushing. He was also listed as among the Top 10 wanted criminals in Mandaluyong City.