Metro drugbusters step up operations

Four suspected drug pushers, including the alleged supplier of shabu among students, were nabbed by the anti-drug operatives of the Manila Police District (MPD) in separate buy-bust operations.

Superintendent Rodolfo Llorca, chief of the MPD’s District Anti-Illegal Drugs-Special Operations Task Group (DAID-SOTG), identified Joey Paragas, 37, of San Miguel, Manila as the supplier of shabu among drug users around Malacañang and students of nearby schools.

Paragas was arrested when a officer, posing as a student, was able to purchase P200 worth of shabu. At the time of his arrest, seven more plastic sachets of shabu and marked money were recovered from him.

Llorca said Paragas often operates near the campus of the Technological Institute of the Philippines along Ayala Boulevard, where he lures students of nearby schools to try prohibited drugs.

In another buy-bust operation led by Senior Inspector Kimberly Molitas, three suspected drug dealers where arrested while in the act of delivering six sachets of shabu worth P12,000 to DAID-SOTG undercover agents in Leveriza street in Malate.

The suspects were identified as Akmad Diamaoden, 31, of Salam Compound, Culiat, Quezon City; Sabina Wahab, 22; and Nasrudin Diyambangan, 24, both of Barangay Sultan Datu Esmael, Dasmariñas, Cavite.

Llorca said the Manila police’s anti-drug operations were in response to an all-out war on illegal drugs called by President Arroyo with the recent discovery of the shabu tiangge in Pasig City.

Officer-on-case SPO1 Eduardo Pama said the suspects were charged with violation of the anti-drugs law with no bail recommended.

In Muntinlupa City, police nabbed three suspects for possession of illegal drugs during separate raids.

Arrested were Roberto Rodilla alias Buntot, 45, of Barangay Tunasan; Jerry Dizon, 33, of Barangay Putatan; and Diego Zarragoza, 33, of Putatan.

Seized from Rodilla was a plastic sachet containing an undetermined quantity of shabu.

Drug paraphernalia and used sachets were confiscated from Dizon and Zarragoza, who are set to undergo drug tests.

The three are now detained at the city police station awaiting charges of violations of Section 11, Article 2 of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act.

In a related development, the city’s Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Office (DAPCO) said it has started surveying and tagging suspected drug dens in various areas of the city.

DAPCO chief Chito Valerio said this will serve as reference for future drug operations against suspected drug pushers and users in the area.

"We are also identifying and coordinating families with drug problems and offer them any help of counseling or rehabilitation for any member of their family hooked on illegal drugs," Valerio said.

So far, DAPCO, led by Mayor Jaime Fresnedi and assisted by barangay officials, has posted 5,000 stickers on the city’s drug-free homes.