These young and idealists men and women in uniform were tarnished by controversies involving police officials in fighting drugs.
CDN FILE PHOTO
Bogo cop nabbed in an anti-drug raid, the first to fall since President Duterte took office
Anti-drug policemen and civilian agents were hoping to catch as many shabu users as possible when they raided a suspected drug den in Toledo City on Saturday night.
They ended up with an unexpected catch: a policeman engaged in a drug session and now tagged as a coddler of drug peddlers in the western seaboard Cebu town, some 50 kilometers from Cebu City.
P02 Ronjie Nadorra, now detained at the Toledo City Police Office (TCPO), is the first policeman linked to drug use or drug protection racket who was caught in the act since President Rodrigo Duterte took office on June 30 and declared a war against illegal drug syndicates and their protectors in uniform.
The raid happened just five days after Toledo City Mayor John Henry “Sonny” Osmeña lambasted his city’s police for having “no balls” to curb illegal drugs in the city.
Nadorra, a native of Toledo City but assigned at the Bogo City Police Office (BCPO) in northern Cebu, was in the middle of a shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride) inhaling session with two other drug users, identified as Richard Flores and Nandy Abella, when Toledo policeman and agents from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) raided the drug den in Sitio Harag, Barangay Talavera at around 9:30 p.m., according to Supt. Samuel Mina Jr., the city’s acting police chief.
Mina said they were actually after Neil Enriquez, an alleged level two drug operator who could sell at least 25 grams of shabu every week.
Mina said that while they did not expect Nadorra to be there during the raid, they already had information that he was the suspected coddler of Enriquez, who was also arrested during the raid.
The TCPO has previously received intelligence reports indicating that a policeman had been delivering drugs to drug users in Barangay Talavera, he added.
Mina said the criminal complaint for illegal drug possession would be filed against Nadorra, his two companions and Enriquez before the city’s prosecutor’s office tomorrow, Monday. The three others were likewise detained at the TCPO.
According to Mina, he also learned that the Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) through the Provincial Intelligence Branch (PIB) has been monitoring Nidorra’s movements.
Nadorra was a former member of the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) of the Naga City Police Office (NCPO) before he was relieved and transferred to Bogo City due to constant unexplained absences. He was also by then suspected to be involved in illegal drugs, according to Mina.
PO3 Ken Cabrera, who was the duty desk officer of the NPCO when CDN called, confirmed Nadorra was relieved from his post for “delinquency” but could not say if he was involved in illegal drug activities.
“Dili mo-report sa iyang trabaho. Usahay mawala sa iyang pwesto. Molakaw (He won’t report for work. If he is at work, sometimes he disappears. He leaves),” he said.
Something wrong
Supt. Richard Oliver, chief of the Bogo City Police Office and Nadorra’s immediate superior, said he was informed of the latter’s arrest at 7 a.m. yesterday.
Oliver said Nadorra had only been reporting at the Bogo police for just barely a week since he transferred to the city only last July 4. But he said he was not surprised with the arrest since he also wanted Nadorra transferred out of his station after he observed that there was “something wrong” with his subordinate.
When asked to explain what he meant, Oliver said Nadorra allegedly showed signs and symptoms of someone who has been using illegal drugs.
Oliver also noted that Nadorra went home to Toledo City after he found out on Saturday that the random drug testing at the Bogo police was scheduled for yesterday morning.
All of the 63 personnel of Bogo City Police Office (10 SWAT, four non-uniformed personnel and 49 policemen) tested negative of drug use, Oliver said.
Oliver said Nadorra would likely face a grave misconduct case since a policeman facing criminal charges would also automatically face administrative charges.
Serious campaign
Nadorra’s arrest proved the PNP’s seriousness in going after erring policemen, added Mina.
“Weed out kung sino ‘yong scalawags (Weed out those who are scalawags),” he said.
Mina said the police began a surveillance operation on the house of Enriquez after they received complaints from residents that it was used as a drug den and that many suspicious looking persons were getting in and out of the house.
“Maraming nagrereklamo sa bahay niya. In and out ang tao na. May mga hindi kilala na nagpupunta sa bahay niya (A lot are complaining about the goings on at Enriquez’s house. People were going in and out. There were unfamiliar faces that also come to his house),” he said.
Mina said their raid netted for the police 20 small sachets of shabu, one .357 paltik (homemade gun) without a serial number with four live bullets and an improvised shotgun, also with four live bullets.
Police have yet to determine the amount of the seized drugs.
Finally
Osmeña yesterday lauded the arrest of Nadorra and the others, noting that the anti-drug drive seemed to have picked up after the reinstatement of Mina as the head of the police force in the city.
“Finally, na-reinstate si Mina. Nangayo ko ug police nga ako (Finally, Mina is reinstated. I asked for a police that is mine),” he added.
Mina officially assumed his post as OIC chief of police of Toledo City only last July 8, just a day after the nationwide implementation of Oplan Tukhang, a Philippine National Police campaign to convince drug peddlers and users to surrender and not wait for the police to come and get them.
As of yesterday, Toledo City has a total 136 surrenderers, including four top drug personalities (top 2, 6, 8 and 9) who were included in the city police’s drug watch list, Mina said.