ON orders of Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, General Debold M. Sinas, the PNP Drug Enforcement Group is now zeroing in on more ‘High-Value Targets (HVTs),’ many of them convicted drug traffickers now serving time in the New Bilibid Prisons and other city and provincial jails in the country, the Journal Group learned yesterday.

Since last month, officers of the PNP-DEG now headed by Brigadier Gen. Remus B. Medina have accounted for more than P200 million worth of high-grade shabu following four separate operations in the country which left at least five heavily-armed drug traffickers dead in gunbattles.

The common denominator of the neutralized suspects: they were monitored to be getting their huge drug supply from Chinese drug lords already serving time in the national penitentiary.

These reports are now the subject of continuing follow-up operations by the PNP-DEG with the help of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) headed by Director General Wilkins M. Villanueva, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), the Bureau of Corrections (BoC) and other law enforcement agencies in the country.

Shortly before midnight of Tuesday last week, a buy-bust conducted by the PNP-DEG in Taytay, Rizal ended up in a shootout which left two ‘HVTs’ dead after they conspired to sell 15 kilograms of shabu worth P102 million to an undercover officer.

Slain in the brief exchange of fire along Highway 2000 Extension in Barangay Sta. Ana, Taytay were one alias ‘Alvin’ and his still unidentified cohort.

Sinas said members of the PNP-DEG recovered 15 kilos of the so-called ‘poor man’s cocaine’ with a street value of P102 million, two chamber-loaded 9mm semi-automatic pistols with two magazines containing several live ammunition, the marked money they received from the poseur and a Nissan Cefiro with plate no. WPT-539.

According to the PNP chief, members of the PNP-DEG, with the support of the PDEA, the Rizal Police Provincial Office, the Taytay Municipal Police Station and the Bureau of Customs conducted the sting in Taytay at 11:55 p.m. last April 25.

“The suspects obviously sensed the ongoing entrapment operation and shot it out with the undercover operatives who were forced to fire back killing both on the spot,” said Sinas.

According to the top cop, suspect ‘Alvin’ has been identified as one of the distributors of top drug trafficker Michael Abdul Lucas who was arrested in a sting in Dasmariñas City, Cavite the other day after he sold 10 kilos of shabu worth P68 million to an agent.

“The suspect is also one of the cohorts of a Filipino-Muslim drug group connected to a certain Chinese national from Hongkong who calls them and gives them instructions when and to whom they will distribute the illegal drugs,” said Sinas.

All suspects have been identified as top shabu personalities in Metro Manila, Calabarzon regions and other nearby regions.

Last April 24, PNP-DEG agents arrested Lucas alias ‘Boy Muslim,’ a 35-year- old jobless resident of Block 25, Lot 12, Moab Street in Town and Country Homes Subdivision in Dasmariñas City.

Members of the PNP-DEG Special Operations Unit 16 arrested the suspect following a buy-bust they conducted with the support of the PDEA 4-A, the Dasmariñas City Police Station, the Cavite Police Provincial Office and the Bureau of Customs.

Recovered from the suspect were 10 kilos of the so-called ‘poor man’s cocaine’ valued at P68 million, three digital weighing scales, different identification cards and the buy-bust money topped by several marked bills.

Sinas said the arrested suspect has been under the radar of the PNP-DEG for his involvement in the large-scale distribution of shabu in Metro Manila, Central Luzon, Calabarzon region and in Mindanao.

“We have information that he has been involved in big-time drug trafficking activities for two years now and is getting his supply of shabu from a Chinese national currently serving time at the New Bilibid Prisons in Muntinlupa City,” said the PNP chief.

The PNP-DEG said they have reliable reports that other cohorts of the jailed Chinese national are the ones delivering the large supply of shabu to the suspect prior to his arrest.

The suspect is facing non-bailable charges for sale and possession of prohibited drugs under Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, said Sinas.

The PNP chief also commended Medina and his men from the SOU 16 led by Lieutenant Colonel Glenn G. Gonzales, the Dasmariñas City Police Station headed by Lt. Col. Ruben M. Piquero, the Cavite PPO led by Col. Marlon R. Santos and the Bureau of Customs intelligence service led by Director Jeffrey Tacio for their role in the successful major drug bust.

It was the latest major PNP-DEG-led anti-narcotics operation in the country this year. Last April 9 and 10, two separate operations conducted by the PNP-DEG and the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) headed by Major Gen. Vicente D. Danao Jr. resulted in the killing of three ‘HVTs’ in Metro Manila and the recovery of 12 kilograms of shabu worth P81.6 million.

The slain suspects were also identified to be getting their stuff from a drug syndicate composed of Chinese and Filipino-Muslim personalities.

Last April 12, PNP-DEG agents also gunned down a notorious drug trafficker in Central Visayas during a buy-bust in Cordova, Cebu which ended up in a shootout. The slain suspect yielded three kilos of shabu worth nearly P20 million.

Last April 14, PNP-DEG operatives also gunned down two top drug dealers in the metropolis following a firefight in Las Piñas City. Seized from the slain suspects were 31 kilograms of shabu worth P210 million.