PRO7 nets 50 drug suspects, P1M shabu seized
A TWO-day simultaneous anti-criminality operation in Central Visayas led to the arrest of 50 known drug personalities and the confiscation of nearly P1 million worth of shabu, Police Regional Office 7 (PRO7) Director Brigadier General Roderick Augustus B. Alba said on Saturday.
In a report to Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Gen. Rodolfo S. Azurin Jr., the official said they conducted their Simultaneous Anti-Criminality Law Enforcement Operations (SACLEO) or the so-called “One-Time, Big-Time” anti-crime drive in the region starting 5:00 a.m. Friday up to 5:00 a.m. Saturday.
As a result, Alba said that 38 known drug trafficking personalities in Central Visayas, three of them identified as “high-value targets” (HVTs), were arrested. Thirty-five others were described as “small-level individuals,” and 12 are drug users, he said.
Recovered from the suspects were 145.38 grams of the so-called “poor man’s cocaine,” valued at P988,584.
Alba said that also arrested during the two-day operation were 15 wanted persons, three men found in possession of illegal firearms, and 30 illegal gambling personalities.
Recovered from the suspects were five illegal guns, 26 illegal gambling paraphernalia, and P2,050 in cash bets.
The official said that among those arrested was a male suspect wanted for violation of the Anti-Photo and Video Voyeurism Act of 2009, Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003, Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2013, and sexual assault in relation to RA (Republic Act) 7610 or the anti-child abuse law in Talisay City, Cebu.
Two “high-value individuals” yielded some 55 grams of shabu worth P374,000 during a buy-bust operation in Cebu City; one was captured for rape and acts of lasciviousness in Toledo City in Cebu; and one suspect was wanted for rape in Tuburan, Cebu.
