Mandaue police arrest 1 after PNP resumes drug war

A suspected drug pusher was arrested by the police during a buy-bust operation last Friday night in Barangay Canduman, Mandaue City.

Operatives of Canduman Police Station led by station commander Aldrin Villacampa collared Levie Requilme, 35, in his house located on an interior portion of Canduman Housing past 9 p.m. last Friday.

Recovered from his possession were a black pouch containing five packs of suspected shabu, another pack used during the buy-bust operation and the buy-bust money worth P200.

This is the first drug-related operation conducted by the Canduman police hours after the Philippine National Police’s (PNP) campaign against illegal drugs had been reinstated on Friday morning.

President Rodrigo Duterte suspended the PNP’s fight against illegal drugs last month to pave way for an internal cleansing.

Mandaue City Police Office (MCPO) spokesperson Chief Insp. Mercy Villaro said the official written directive stating the resumption of their drug operations will be released tomorrow, Monday.

However, the efforts of the police in the drug war will now be limited to buy-bust operations and serving search warrants after the Tokhang (Toktok Hangyo) and Taphang (Tapok Hangyo) operations were suspended.

“The PDEA (Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency) will still be the lead agency in the drug war and we will still coordinate with them,” Villaro said.
Villaro added that they will focus more on inviting drug dependents to submit themselves for drug rehabilitation programs.

The Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7) had also mandated the city police offices and the barangay police stations to form among themselves their respective drug enforcement units.

Villaro said that members must have no derogatory record, must have good moral character and must have undergone a criminal investigation and intelligence course.