17 arrested in Binloc raid
P2 MILLION SHABU BUST
SEVENTEEN persons, most of whom are women, were arrested and about 300 grams of shabu with a street value of P2 million were sized in a joint operation by lawmen under Oplan Lambat Sibat ‘One Time-Big Time’ operation at 2:30 p.m. of October 22 in Sitio Silongan in Bonuan Binloc, a known drug den in Dagupan.
There were 200 lawmen who joined in that operation that implemented multiple search warrants issued by the Regional Trial Court of Dagupan City against six suspected drug dens operating in the area, said P/Supt. Christopher Abrahano, chief of police of Dagupan City Police Station in a news conference after the raid joined by Mayor Belen T. Fernandez.
The raiding teams also seized P111,000 cash in different denominations believed used in the drug trade and six undocumented motorcycles.
Of the 17 suspects, only 14 were identified by Regional Director Adrian G. Alvariño. These are Noralyn Acmad Musor, 20; Jenny Ann Mejia Magsano, 20; Dennis Decena Molina, 17; Mohamad Malaud Macabanaw, Sahara Suba, 17; Namraida S. Panganting, 20; Raihana Gubat Pangandag, 23; Ameroding Macaombang Cusingan, 16; Mohamad Panganting Sumaguina, 33; Regine Magsano, 21; Ferdinand Decena Sr., 47; Fermin Decena, 25; Princess Decena, 24; and Asgar B. Aguinda, 26, leader of a drug group who has a standing warrant of arrest also for illegal drugs.
Five or six of those arrested were named in the search warrants issued by the courts.
Alvariño said among those arrested were members of the Linog, Janal and Demaguidan drug groups operating in Dagupan and adjacent towns of Pangasinan, adding that it was through them that illegal drugs reportedly originating from drug syndicates in Region III, Region IV-A and the National Capital Region (NCR) are being consigned.
Abrahano, said that the operation was the result of their four-month case build-up and surveillance in the area in partnership with the PDEA and the local government of Dagupan.
The raid, he said, was participated in by the Pangasinan Police Provincial Office, PNP Maritime, Philippine Coastguard, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), Naval Intelligence, Land Transportation Office and the office of the warrant officer of the Regional Trial Court in Dagupan City.
Senior Supt. Rolie Saltat, officer-in-charge at the Pangasinan Provincial Police Office who supervised the operation, said the raid dealt a big blow to the operations of drug traffickers in Dagupan and Pangasinan.
He vowed that more of this operation will be done in the coming days under the Lambat Sibat ‘One Time-Big Time’ project of the PNP.
Abrahano said the launching of the operation was delayed owing to the absence of a barangay official to witness the raid. Only one appeared later and the police proceeded only when another two arrived.
In the press conference at the Dagupan City Police Station, Mayor Belen Fernandez said she will call Barangay Bonuan Binloc chairman Pedro Gonzales to her office to explain in a conference with the police and PDEA of the barangay officials’ reluctance to be present during the drug raid as witnesses.
Under Republic Act 9165 or the anti-drug law, the presence of barangay officials, particularly the barangay captain is required.
Mayor Fernandez lauded the efforts of the PNP, PDEA and other law enforcement agencies to help eradicate drug dens operating in the city.
“This is a major breakthrough in our serious campaign against the operations of drug merchants in our city. We are sending this as a stern warning against those who seek to destroy the future of our children,” said Fernandez after the raid.
“We will never rest and we will put a stop to this to protect our children against these heartless people. It is a pity that some of them are women but we can not do anything for them but haul them to jail while we will continue to rehabilitate those affected,” the mayor said.
Fernandez said since the city launched the Anti-Drug hotline 0947-377-7777, concerned citizens have been sending information through text messages that resulted in the arrest of several drug personalities in the city.
At the same time, she revealed that she has sent six drug users to undergo rehabilitation at the Dagupan City Treatment and Drug Center in compliance with the order of the court that disposed of the cases against these persons, spending P6,000 a month for each of them or a total of six months or P36,000 for each person.
The mayor said that she has organized a “Help Desk” at city hall where families may go to seek help for the rehabilitation of their kin who are drug users. (Leonardo Micua)
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