• CHERYL G. CRUZ
The Bacolod City Police Office does not consider as alarming the seizure of large volume of illegal drugs, especially in the past days, since the city is a transshipment point.
“Normal lang na daku ang recovery… (since) Bacolod is the center of trade and transaction…it is a transshipment point,” BCPO director, P/Col. Joeresty Coronica, said at the press briefing Feb. 25.
“It doesn’t mean that drugs recovered here will be consumed by drug personalities in Bacolod alone…it will be distributed (and consumed) somewhere else, (in some) other (areas or) provinces,” Coronica explained.
From Feb. 17-23, the BCPO said it seized 1,065 grams of shabu, worth P7.24 million, and 975 grams of marijuana, valued at P117,000, in 14 operations conducted that also resulted in the arrest of 19 suspects.
Included in this latest drug haul was the two operations led by the City Drug Enforcement Unit that resulted in confiscation of 370 grams of shabu, valued at around P2.5 million, and the arrest of four suspects in Purok Lubi, Barangay 3 night of Feb. 17, and just after midnight Feb. 18 in Purok Gonzaga Extension, Barangay Taculing.
Coronica said the challenge for them is the porous borders of Bacolod and Negros Occidental where it is open and easy for anyone to cross or pass through.
He noted that illicit drugs usually come from Cebu, Mindanao, and Panay, with the latter also a transshipment area for supplies from the National Capitol Region, Region IV-A or Calabarzon, and Bicol.
Coronica also took note of the evolving drug landscape.
“Lain na ang kalakaran, before we can identify drug lords (but) now it’s free for all because of the advancement in technology,” he explained. “(Now) it’s more on consignment.”
He admitted that crimes, particularly shooting incidents, were mostly drug-related.
Coronica also said that, of the 61 barangays in Bacolod, only about 20, or 34 percent had been declared as drug-cleared.
The specific list was not immediately available, but Coronica said the BCPO remains steadfast in its intensified anti-drug campaign, and is urging the public to support law enforcement efforts in making Bacolod City a safer and peaceful community. | CGC
