North Cemetery drug den raided

Some 45 plastic sachets of shabu with an estimated street value of more than P200,000 and various drug paraphernalia were seized by police during a raid at a suspected drug den inside the North Cemetery in Sta. Cruz, Manila yesterday morning.

The raid also resulted in the arrest of five persons, four of them women, who allegedly served as maintainers of the concealed drug den, which could only be accessed through a maze of tombs and mausoleums.

The raiders had to use an acetylene torch and bolt cutter in order to gain entry into the drug den, which had a steel door and three surveillance cameras.

"The place is well-secured. Nobody could gain entry unless properly identified. The police only managed to discover the drug den when its maintainers panicked during the raid," Sta. Cruz police station chief Superintendent Romulo Sapitula said.

He said the raiders had to crawl through a maze of tombs in order to reach the drug den located at 29th street inside the North Cemetery. A concerned citizen tipped off Sapitula of the presence of the drug den.

The subject of the raid were certain a Bong and Boy Zapanta, the alleged drug den owners. Both managed to elude the raiding team.

The raid was conducted on the strength of search warrants 06-9418 and 06-9419 issued by a Manila court. Barangay officials and media men witnessed the raid.

Also seized during the raid were 38 pieces of hand-rolled aluminum foil, four disposable lighters, one transparent glass container, three surveillance cameras, a pair of scissors, a glass tooter and an improvised burner.

The arrested alleged drug maintainers were identified as Marissa Rañoco, 30; Rebecca Zapata, 42; Anna May Zapata, 23; Randy Sabado, 18; and two minor girls.

Charges of violation of the anti-illegal drugs law were filed against the suspects.

Yesterday’s raid followed last Saturday’s raid in drug-affected barangays in Quiapo, where some 75 persons were picked up for record verification.

Seven individuals turned out to have pending criminal records.

Sapitula said more raids will be conducted on several identified drug-affected barangays as part of the police ongoing drive to neutralize drug offenders and arrest members of drug syndicates in order to make Manila barangays drug free.