Caloocan cops round up 22 in drug den raids

At least 22 suspected drug offenders were arrested when police raided suspected drug dens last Thursday night in Caloocan City.

Superintendent Napoleon Cuaton, police intelligence and investigation chief, identified two of the suspects as Jamael Salong, 29, and Pia Alala, both residents Barangay 66, Zone 6, District II, 10th Avenue, Caloocan City.

Cuaton said a sachet of shabu was seized from each of the suspects. Seven of those arrested were tagged as drug den maintainers. The others are awaiting drug tests and filing of charges.

Police confiscated some 34 grams of shabu with an estimated street value of around P68,000 during the operation.

Also seized were drug paraphernalia, including a digital weighing scale.

Northern Police District director Chief Superintendent Leopoldo Bataoil earlier ordered anti-illegal drugs units in Camanava (Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, Valenzuela) to intensify operations against illegal drugs.

Using six K-9 dogs, two from the office of Chief Inspector Bartolome "Bong" Tarnate, chief of NPD-DAID, the Caloocan police Station Anti-Illegal Drugs (SAID) unit swooped down on a Muslim compound in Barangay 66 at around 8:30 p.m.

The SAID, led by SPO3 Benjar Matining, discovered at least 50 cubicles inside the densely congested compound many were reportedly utilized as shabu dens.

"We don’t want a Pasig-like incident to occur in Camanava," Bataoil earlier said.

Shanties in Pasig City was ordered demolished recently by the city government after a police raid discovered a flea market-type compound openly selling drugs and renting cubicles to users.