ILOILO City – Drug traffickers are getting more distrustful of people seeking to transact with them, and this makes it difficult for the police to carry out buy-bust operations, according to the Regional Drug Enforcement Unit (RDEU) of the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6).
Pushers now seem to prefer dealing only with people they are familiar with, their suki, said Police Lieutenant Colonel Mark Anthony Darroca, RDEU chief.
“They are getting wiser. Indi na sila magbaligya kun kay sin-o lang unlike sa mga previous years nga pwede ka kabakal sa ila, ina bala nga daw mabakal ka sa store lang,” said Darroca.
So how should the police operatives earn the trust and confidence of the drug pushers?
“We need to use assets that our targets are familiar with, mahambal naton nga suki,” Darroca said.
He also revealed that Bacolod City and Negros Occidental are the sources of shabu being peddled in Panay Island.
The RDEU is coordinating with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) to monitor drug groups especially in Bacolod City and Negros Occidental, and high-value targets (HVTs).
On Saturday night, the RDEU arrested a former security guard and HVT – Joebert San Luis, 39, of Barangay Balabag, New Lucena, Iloilo – in a buy-bust operation in Barangay Cabugao Sur, Santa Barbara, Iloilo.
He was busted at around 10:45 p.m.
Police said an undercover cop managed to buy from the suspect P13,000 worth of shabu.
The police recovered 25 more sachets.
The total volume of shabu seized reached 145 grams and valued at P850,000.
“He admitted to us that he engaged in illegal drugs because he had no work,” Darroca said.
San Luis was detained at the Santa Barbara police station. Charges for violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 would be filed against him./PN
