Fil-Chinese traders cry harassment by NarcGroup

A number of Filipino-Chinese businessmen have complained of harassment by anti-narcotics agents of the Philippine National Police (PNP). However, the businessmen refused to come forward and file a formal complaint against alleged agents of the Narcotics Group (NarcGroup) of the PNP for fear of reprisals.

The Star learned that the Filipino-Chinese businessmen made known their complaints to NarcGroup chief Director Efren Fernandez thru text messaging. They claimed that armed men on board plateless vehicles are shadowing them wherever they and their families go.

Fernandez urged the Filipino-Chinese businessmen to come forward and file a formal complaint so he can start an honest-to-goodness probe on the alleged NarcGroup agents harrassment operations.

"If they are not doing anything illegal they should not be afraid to surface because I’m very willing to provide them full security," a narcotics official quoted Fernandez as saying. "I will not tolerate any wrongdoing by my men."

But the narcotics official told The Star that the "harrassment" complaint could be part of a smear campaign waged by the Chinese triads to get even with NarcGroup for the recent crippling of their drug business in the country.

Since last year, the NarcGroup has been able to neutralize two shabu laboratories in Pasig City and San Juan and seize more than 1,000 kilos of shabu in the provinces of Quezon and Zambales and Pasay City and Manila. Because of their debacle, the Chinese triad has set aside P6 million to finance its smear campaign against Fernandez and NarcGroup officials who figured prominently in the said operations. The drug syndicates also vowed to liquidate NarcGroup "informants."

The suspicion that the Chinese triad concocted the "harrassment" complaint was due to the fact that NarcGroup does not operate using plateless vehicles, a narcotics official said.

"We cannot use plateless vehicles because it will easily catch the attention of traffic or uniformed policemen," said a narcotics official who asked not to be identified. He said the use of plateless vehicles only invites misencounters with fellow cops or other law enforcement agencies.

Fernandez was aware as to what type of vehicles they are using and their plate numbers, the narcotics official said. "We rotate the use of our vehicles to prevent drug syndicates from monitoring us," he said. He expressed belief that the "harrassment" complaint was just a start of a media offensive by the Chinese triad to paint a bad image of Fernandez and NarcGroup agents to the public. — Non Alquitran