BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – The two alleged members of the “Divinagracia Drug Group” killed in a recent gun-battle with authorities in Muntinlupa City were likely “newbies”, according to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in Negros Occidental.
To note, the operation yielded at least 10 kilos of suspected shabu with a market value of P68 million.
Agent “Bamboo,” an operative of PDEA-Negros Occidental, said suspects Jordan Sabandal Abrigo and Jayvee De Guzman were new to the group, showing evidence that Divinagracia had expanded his operations.
“Bamboo” said 80 percent of the members of the “Divinagracia Drug Group” in Negros Occidental have either already been killed or arrested. At present, he revealed, they are monitoring several drug suspects in the province who have links to the alleged drug group.
The PDEA agent also confirmed the statement of Philippine National Police (PNP) chief General Guillermo Eleazar that aside from Western Visayas, some of the drugs from the Negrense “drug group” were reaching as far as Mindanao.
Last week, Divinagracia was found dead in the town of Baras in Rizal province. The slain drug lord was believed to have been strangled to death with a steel wire, prior to being finished off with gunshots.
Divinagracia was the most wanted drug suspect in Negros Occidental, and had a bounty on his head amounting to P500,000.
He fled to Region 4-A in 2019.
The Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (NOCPPO) is currently investigating as to whether or not the P68-million worth of drugs seized in Muntinlupa City were intended for the province. Reports showed that the drug group was known to have actively smuggled illicit substance via roll-on/roll-off ferries at the Batangas Port./PN
