ILOILO City – From June 27 to July 27 this year, P23,180,153 worth of shabu was seized across Western Visayas, data from the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) showed. The bulk of shabu was from Negros Occidental (P13.8 million) and Bacolod City (P9.2 million).
Only P162,653 worth of shabu were confiscated from the provinces of Iloilo, Capiz, Aklan, Antique, and Guimaras.
“Expect more confiscations. Bacolod City and Negros Occidental are the focus of our operation,” said Police Lieutenant Joem Malong, spokesperson of the PRO-6 whose director, Brigadier General Rene Pamuspusan, official started his two-year tour of duty in the region on June 27.
Shabu in those areas were from Cebu City and Negros Oriental, she added.
On the other hand, drug trafficking activities waned in Iloilo and other provinces in Panay Island, resulting to a drop in the volume of shabu confiscations, said Malong.
Drug personalities and groups were continuously being neutralized, she stressed.
Even the group of still at-large top drug suspect Ernesto Bolivar is having difficulty operating, said Malong, with only around six to seven members still active.
Will the PRO-6 now under Pamuspusan finally succeed in arresting Bolivar of Barangay Guinacas, Pototan, Iloilo?
Three PRO-6 directors before Pamuspusan tried but all failed to find Bolivar, 41, who became the region’s top drug target after the death in September 2017 of drug lord Richard Prevendido. They were Police Brigadier Generals Cesar Hawthorne Binag, Jose Gentiles and John Bulalacao.
Bolivar’s arrest and the campaign against illegal drugs remains a PRO-6 priority, according to Malong.
Police units have been ordered to step up efforts to locate Bolivar in a recent command conference with Pamuspusan.
“The goal is to sustain the gains of the PRO-6 in the revitalized campaign against illegal drugs, targeting the remaining drug personalities and groups in Panay and Negros islands, and these include Bolivar,” said Malong.
Bolivar was believed to be a minion of Prevendido and stepped up drug trafficking activities after his boss died in a shootout with policemen on Sept. 1, 2017 in Barangay Balabago, Jaro district here.
To avoid detection, sources said, Bolivar has tapped the services of personalities whom the police are not familiar with.
Sources further told Panay News Bolivar has lots of money to buy protection from policemen and even businessmen.
Bolivar has a pending arrest warrant for violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002. He was charged although he managed to escape from policemen trying to entrap him in a buy-bust operation at his house in Barangay Guinacas, Pototan on Nov. 9, 2016.
The Bolivar drug group operates mainly in central and northern Iloilo province and parts of nearby Capiz. It is also into robbery and gun-for-hire services, according to the PRO-6’s Regional Drug Enforcement Unit.
The provincial government of Iloilo is dangling a P500,000 monetary reward to whoever could give information leading to the arrest of Bolivar./PN
