Sinas approves relief of CDEU officers; agrees with Garma to overhaul DEU system

Police Brigadier General Debold Sinas, director of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas. | CDN FILE PHOTO

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The report of a Cebu City Drug Enforcement Unit (CDEU) police officer getting caught with P170,000 worth of shabu (methamphetamine) did not sit well with the chief of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7).

Police Brigadier General Debold Sinas, the director of PRO-7, agreed with Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) Chief Colonel Royina Garma that the CDEU will have to be overhauled following the arrest of Police Corporal Rogelio Atillo in Barangay Basak Pardo on June 7.

READ: Cop, who moonlights as drug pusher, nabbed with P170K shabu in Pardo bust

Sinas said the current situation will raise doubts on CDEU’s integrity especially on how they failed to catch their own police officer, who moonlighted as a drug pusher.

Sinas said the overhauling the CDEU is also a sweeping act for the police.

“We might have missed others who are doing the same so we opted for a total sweeping. It was very glaring that it was one of them,” Sinas said in the Visayan language.

CDEU police officers, who were relieved from duty, were subjected to drug tests and investigation process.

Their lockers have been raided to check if any of them has been smuggling shabu outside of legitimate operations.

READ: CDEU chiefs to be relieved as Garma eyes police unit’s ‘complete overhaul’

He said that Atillo admitted that he has been sneaking out shabu piece by piece during operations. He eventually gathered enough amount to sell to users.

Atillo was able to sell twice before he got arrested.

“It took time before he was able to gather those shabu,” said Sinas.

To prevent any more CDEU personnel from committing the same act, Sinas said they will be implementing changes in operations in order to assure the integrity of the anti-illegal drug operations.

Sinas said he will order a total overhaul of all DEUs in the region after the assumption of news officials on June 30. The police director said there is a high possibility that this is also happening in other towns and cities in the region.

Sinas hopes that this incident will not be repeated again by other police officers who will be assigned to the DEUs or they will face charge  for selling illegal drugs and for being committing misconduct in their solemn duty as a policemen. / celr