PDEA dismantles drug den in Dagupan, 6 nabbed
A DRUG DEN in the once-cleared Sitio Aliguas in Barangay Pantal, formerly known as Sitio Aling, was dismantled by operatives of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) early morning Monday, December 11.
PDEA Pangasinan Provincial Officer Rechie Camacho said it was Monday’s implementation of a search warrant that resulted from months-long monitoring against suspects Diane Soriano, 30 and husband Alfredo Soriano, 32 – maintainer and co-maintainer respectively.
Camacho said it was Diane Soriano, the primary subject of the operation, who is listed as a High-Value Target (HVT).
Some of the couple’s relatives were already nabbed in earlier anti-illegal drug operations.
Other suspects caught in the drug den were Erickson Ragua, 39 of Barangay Pogo Grande, Dagupan City; Ragidel Velasquez 36, of Barangay Anolid in Mangaldan town, John Lester Soriano, 23, of Barangay Pogo Chico in Dagupan City, and Michael Santa Maria, 46, a resident of Barangay Pogo Grande, Dagupan City, who were all caught in the act of using illegal drugs when the PDEA operatives barged inside the shanty.
The search warrant resulted in the confiscation of 15 pieces of heat-sealed transparent plastic sachets containing suspected shabu, weighing more or less 14 grams with a P95,200 street value.
Camacho said some P4 million worth of illegal drugs were already seized in Pangasinan to date.
The clandestine operation of the drug den in the community has been a cause for alarm since the sitio is in front of a large university on Arellano Street.
He said Sitio Aling has been subjected to numerous buy-bust and search warrant implementations in the past even prior to former President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs. The area was even declared drug-cleared by the LGU on August 2016.
“Sa ngayon kung papasukin mo itong eskinita ng lugar [Aling], bubungad na agad sa iyo yung mga nagbebenta, nag-aagawan na yang mga yan sabay offer na gamitin yung mga lugar nila”, Camacho said.
“Yung huli natin kahapon hindi lang involved, marami pang iba sa lugar na yan na involved din ngayon na hindi pa nahuli”, he added.
Camacho said coordination with the barangay and community is ongoing as further monitoring in the area continues. With the evident reinfestation of illegal drugs in Sitio Aling, he said Barangay Pantal is still not clear of illegal drugs.
Camacho said the recent successful operation can be attributed to the information provided by concerned residents in the community “Hindi natin madi-dismantle ito kung hindi dahil sa sumbong at reklamo ng mga concerned citizens”, he said. (Ahikam Pasion)
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