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BY RUBY P. SILUBRICO
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Friday, January 6, 2017
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ILOILO City – Contrary to the claim of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), it is business as usual for the Prevendido drug group, according to the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6).
Suspected drug lord Richard Prevendido, though still at large, managed to recruit new members following the arrest of his trusted lieutenants, said Superintendent Gilbert Gorero, spokesperson of the regional police command.
These new group members are the ones now distributing shabu in Iloilo city and province and Prevendido himself directs them while in hiding, said Gorero.
Last month, PDEA deputy regional director Levi Ortiz claimed the Prevendido drug group now existed only by name.
“Kasi lahat sila (identified members) may pending warrants of arrest at si Bonie (Prevendido Gregori) nahuli na. Paano pa sila makapagpalawak ng negosyo kapag on the run sila,” said Ortiz.
Bonie Gregori was a nephew of Prevendido. Ortiz described him as the “brain and muscle” of the Prevendido group.
But according to Gorero, the PRO-6 “could not consider Prevendido’s drug operations paralyzed” although the group’s shabu distribution “declined somehow” due to ceaseless police antidrug operations.
“We received information that he’s still engaged in the illegal drug trade through his new recruits. They are actually the focus of our operation right now,” Gorero told Panay News.
So where is Prevendido, a resident of Barangay Bakhaw, Mandurriao district?
Gorero admitted the PRO-6 was uncertain of the suspect’s whereabouts but he stressed the intelligence community was at work trying to find him.
Among the PRO-6’s units hunting Prevendido are the Regional Intelligence Office and Regional Special Operations Group.
Last year, a confident Chief Superintendent Jose Gentiles, regional police director, declared Prevendido would be arrested before the end of 2016.
“This is not a failure,” insisted Gorero, adding that Gentiles’ statement should be viewed instead as an invitation for Prevendido to voluntarily surrender.
“We could not force him to surrender because he has no arrest warrant yet. We are still waiting for the court to issue one,” said Gorero.
Prevendido was charged with violating the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 following the raid of his house on Oct. 21, 2016. Shabu worth P1.3 million was seized.
Gentiles said Prevendido better surrender.
“Kasi if his arrest warrant is released, marami na magha-hunting sa kanya or ‘di kaya baka madisgrasya pa siya. That’s why we continue to encourage him to surrender,” said Gentiles.
PDEA’s Ortiz himself admitted that Prevendido was hard to catch.
“He was constantly moving. We even received reports that he already left Western Visayas,” said Ortiz.
But he expressed confidence that the suspected drug lord will soon be caught.
“He can run but he can’t forever hide. Makukuha rin sya. Matiyaga ang mga operatives natin,” said Ortiz./PN
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