- GILBERT BAYORAN
Six local drug groups in Negros Occidental have been declared dismantled by the provincial police office.
P/Capt. Judesses Catalogo, spokesperson of the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office, said Tuesday, Jan. 24, that the dismantled drug rings no longer function as groups, with remnants operating individually.
Already dismantled by the NOCPPO, in tandem with other law enforcement agencies, through the PNP Oplan Tokhang campaign and related anti-drug operations, were the Burgos, Bacus, Divinagracia, Ramos, Macundato, and Virtucio drug groups.
Despite the dismantling of these groups, Catalogo said that monitoring and operations against the remnants are still underway.
Starting this year, Catalogo said they will also focus on the drug rehabilitation and education campaign, in close coordination with other national government agencies, such as the departments of Health, Education, Social Welfare and Development, and Interior and Local Government, among others.
Police records showed that NOCPPO neutralized the drug peddling activities of more than 800 drug suspects, that yielded about P108 million worth of shabu in Negros Occidental last year.
The municipalities of Pulupandan and Moises Padilla, as well as Sipalay City, are considered by the police as drug-cleared local government units in the province./GB
