P25.4M ‘shabu’ seized in Central Visayas in one day

At least 10.2 million worth of suspected shabu were seized during a buy-bust operation on Saturday, August 13, 2022, in Barangay Cabancalan, Mandaue City

CEBU CITY, Philippines — A total of 3.7 kilos, or 25.4 million worth of ‘shabu,’ was seized in a one-day long Simultaneous Anti-Criminality Law Enforcement Operations (SACLEO) from August 13 to 14, 2022.

This total drug haul stemmed from the 124 total drug busts that police conducted from midnight of August 13, to the midnight of August 14, said Police Brigadier General Roque Eduardo Vega, director of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7).

“The regionwide Synchronized Enhanced Managing Police Operations aims at reducing crime and strengthening public safety with the support of the community to the mandates of the Philippine National Police,” Vega was quoted saying in a press release.

The biggest drug haul over the weekend was from the Mandaue City Police Office, which was P11.2 million worth of confiscated ‘shabu.’

P10.2 million was from an 18-year-old man who was arrested in Barangay Cabancalan on August 13, 2022. Police identified the arrested suspect as John Alex Villaraza of Barangay Carreta in Cebu City.

Lapu-Lapu City policemen also seized 73.7 grams of ‘shabu’ worth P501,160. The Cebu Police Provincial Office also had P8.9 million worth of drug haul; Bohol police with P284, 376; Negros Oriental police with P18, 972, and the Regional police Drug Enforcement Unit with P1 million drug haul.

READ: Mandaue cops eye supplier of ‘drug courier’ who was caught with P10.2M ‘shabu’

In Cebu City, police arrested 39 individuals and confiscated 786.34 grams of suspected shabu within the said period. This has an estimated drug price of 5.3 million. The arrests and seizures were from 34 operations conducted.

Of these arrested individuals, 17 were listed as high-value while 22 were street-level individuals.

“Daghan gihapon. Naa gihapoy demand…We don’t have a forecast of how big is the volume coming into Cebu though in the previous data, dagko gyud ang volumes nga nasakmit ngari with the combined efforts sa different law enforcement agencies,” Police Lieutenant Colonel Maria Theresa Macatangay, information officer of the Cebu City Police Office, said.

“Sa inyohang nasayran, aduna ta, sa isa ka adlaw, worth P5 million worth of ‘shabu’. That is [how big] the problem we are facing. It has always been a continuing menace to our society,” she added.

With this, Macatangay said that raising awareness about the ill effects of illegal drugs should not only be taught in households but also in schools in the hope that this will lessen the demand for illegal drugs. If there is a decrease in demand, there could also be a dent in the drug supply.

Macatangay encourages the community to participate in a way that they will report or relay valid or credible information to the police about possible drug players in their respective localities.

/bmjo