Saturation drive in ‘Little Vietnam’ nets 28

Twenty-eight people were rounded up by police in an early morning saturation drive yesterday in one of Manila’s suspected haven of criminals and wanted persons as part of the anti-criminality campaign of the Western Police District (WPD).

Backed up by a Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team, some 30 fully-armed operatives of the Sta. Cruz police station swooped down on shanties along Gunao street in Quiapo at around 5:45 a.m.

Gunao street has been tagged by the police as "Little Vietnam" due to unsolved killings in the area where victims often refuse to cooperate with police and instead put the law into their own hands.

Sta. Cruz police station chief Superintendent Romulo Sapitula, who has jurisdiction over the Quiapo area, said intelligence reports also show that Gunao street is also a haven of criminals and wanted persons. Several traders had also complained of rampant robberies, muggings and extortion activities in the area.

Before the raid, Sapitula reminded his men to refrain from destroying property during their search, but instead focus on personalities with warrants of arrest. "No person will hide inside drawers, so there is no need to open cabinets. This is to preclude the usual charges of robbery filed against policemen during saturation," Sapitula warned.

The raid was also coordinated with various religious leaders and barangay officials in the area, he said.

During the raid, several persons were seen jumping into the Pasig River while others escaped by going to the rooftops. Narrow alleys and dark passageways also hampered the roundup of more persons.

Out of the 28 persons brought to police station for verification, one was found to have a standing warrant of arrest on drug charges. He was identified as Ben Mohammad, 31.

Another, identified as Aries Sultan, 24, was found in possession of two sachets of shabu and drug paraphernalia.

Twelve persons were released after they showed their community identification cards, while 11 underwent fingerprinting and records verification.

Sapitula said more saturation drives will follow in the next few days to flush out criminals and wanted persons from their hiding places.