Grenade blast rocks Caloocan anti-drug unit

MANILA, Philippines - A grenade explosion rocked the Caloocan police anti-drug unit’s office before dawn yesterday morning.

No one was killed but Edelyn Portis, 17, was brought to the Caloocan Medical Center when shrapnel grazed her left leg. Portis was tending her family’s store in front of the anti-drug unit’s office on Langaray street in Kaunlaran Village.

Police Officer 3 Pedro Jonson, who was manning the desk at the District Special Operation Unit (DSOU), said he heard a loud explosion at around 2:30 a.m. and found that two cars and at least three motorcycles parked in front of the office were destroyed.

The anti-drug unit shares the same building with the DSOU and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.

Jonson said he did not see anyone who may have been responsible for the blast, but Portis’ mother told The STAR that her daughter heard a motorcycle pass shortly before the explosion.

A police officer, who asked not to be named, said the persons who threw the grenade were not seen on footage taken by surveillance cameras installed outside the police building.

“We cannot speculate on the motive of the suspects but as far as the anti-drug unit is concerned we have no records of arrests this week so it is possible that the other units were the target,” he said.