ONE of the biggest illegal drug syndicates based in Cebu has fled as the Philippine National Police began hitting hard on crime groups operating in the Central Visayas.
Senior Supt. Patrocinio Comendador, director of the Police Regional Office Central Visayas (PRO 7), said the drug group, whom he refused to identify, left after a series of police operations against illegal drugs.
“We’ve been monitoring that group. But they recently moved out of the region following a number of operations we conducted,” he told reporters yesterday.
Anti-drug operatives from PRO 7 had been engaged in several high-profile operations, including the May 28 raid on Banacon Island in Getafe, Bohol that led to the death of Rowen Secretaria alias “Yawa,” the number three drug personality in the region who operated mainly in Cebu City; and last Sunday’s raid in Inabanga, Bohol that resulted to the death of five alleged drug dealers and the seizure of P3.3 million worth of white crystalline substance suspected to be shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride).
Supt. Romer Dagumo, chief of the Regional Crime Laboratory, said the slain drug suspects carried high-powered firearms that would be subjected to ballistics examination to find out if they were used in other crimes.
“Shells will also be cross-matched to determine if these firearms were used in previous shooting incidents,” said Dagumo.
He said they would also counter-check with the Firearms and Explosives Office (FEO) if any of the firearms was government-issued.
Comendador, however, said there was no report to indicate that the slain drug suspects were in cahoots with or had obtained their firearms from robbery groups in Bohol.
Leo Villarino, chief investigator of the Commission on Human Rights in Central Visayas (CHR 7), meanwhile, said he saw no need to investigate the Inabanga operation as there was no complaints of excessive use of force or allegations of a rubout, which was raised in the police operation on Banacon Island./UP CEBU INTERN MAURICE JITTY M. VILLAESTER
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