ILOILO City – A Grade 11 student and a water delivery man were arrested in an antidrug buy-bust operation of the Mandurriao district police station.
Red John Carl Barcillano, 18, and Rolly Boy Tajanglangit, 30, were detained at the Mandurriao police station on Saturday. Both were residents of Barangay Cubay, Jaro district.
The sting operation was carried out around 8:30 p.m. in Barangay San Rafael, Mandurriao.
An undercover police officer was able to buy from Tajanlangit a sachet of shabu for P600, according to Chief Inspector Juvy Navales, Mandurriao police chief.
Four more sachets of shabu were recovered.
Tajanglangit was a newly identified drug suspect while Barcillano was his “runner”, said Navales.
“We have been tailing them for more than a week,” according to the police chief.
Barcillano was a student at Filipino-American School Town, said Navales.
Both the Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Region 6 agreed last month to resume the drug war in campuses because students were vulnerable to illegal drugs.
The focus of the campaign was on demand reduction, according to PDEA regional director Wardley Getalla.
Through lectures on the ill-effects of prohibited substances, both PDEA and the police hoped to convince youngsters to stay away from illegal drugs.
“We have intelligence personnel, too, monitoring the movements of drug peddlers. We know students are vulnerable to illegal drugs,” said ICPO director Senior Superintendent Henry Biñas.
Getalla, meanwhile, said, “We need the participation of barangay officials and school personnel to help keep students away from illegal drugs.”
Recently, PDEA’s central office proposed a mandatory drug test on teachers and students from Grade 4 and up but the Department of Education said this was unlawful./PN
