Explain drug den near Carreta hall, chief told

CARRETA Barangay Captain Eduardo Lauron was asked to explain why a drug den was operating right behind the barangay hall.

Director Yogi Filemon Ruiz of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Central Visayas (PDEA-7) sent a letter to Lauron on Thursday, and Ruiz was expecting a response within three days.

“The drug den is located 15 meters from the barangay hall. What was he doing then as the barangay captain of Carreta?” Ruiz said in an interview yesterday.

Ruiz said he would evaluate Lauron’s explanation, but most likely, the village chief would face charges before the Office of the Ombudsman in the Visayas.

“I will review what appropriate charges we can file against him (Lauron). But for sure, I will be filing a case against him,” he said.

In November last year, the PDEA-7 director filed a case against elected officials of Barangay Ermita in Cebu City for failure to cooperate in a drug raid in the area.

The complaint led the Visayas Ombudsman to order the preventive suspension of Barangay Captain Felicisimo Rupinta and all his seven barangay councilmen for six months without pay.

Ruiz said they wanted to teach barangay officials who refused to cooperate in their anti-drug operations a lesson.

But Lauron, who has been barangay captain for 10 years, said in an interview that he reported the illegal drug activities in the place to the Mabolo Police Station, which had jurisdiction over the barangay.

“Where else will I report when we are under the Mabolo police? I didn’t know that we still have to notify PDEA about it,” he said in Cebuano.

He said he would also cooperate in the investigation and with PDEA-7 in their anti-drug operations.