‘NARCO KIDS’: Cops keep tight watch on minors used in Bakhaw drug trade

By Jennifer P. Rendon

The Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) has monitored minors who were allegedly involved in the illegal drug trade in Barangay Bakhaw, Mandurriao district.

Lieutenant Colonel Albert Sy, ICPO City Intelligence Unit (CIU) chief, said they already have reports and the identities of these minors allegedly used as runners by illegal drug pushers based in Bakhaw.

Juveniles being in used in drug dealings again came to light following the arrest of a suspected drug pusher in Bakhaw around 2:40 a.m. on Jan 30, 2023.

Mark Jeric Barrientos, 30, of Barangay Ungka Jaro, Iloilo City, was arrested after he handed a sachet of suspected shabu for P2,100.

Recovered from Barrientos were the marked money, 8 sachets of suspected shabu, and a belt bag containing a pouch and a mobile phone.

Sy said Barrientos got his drug supply from a dealer in Bakhaw.

“The transaction was made over the phone but it was a minor who allegedly handed to him the illegal drugs,” he said.

But Barrientos did not divulge his source. He also could not identify the minor who delivered the illegal drugs.

“They are using minors so as not to make their transactions so obvious,” Sy said.

He added that several tricycle drivers attested to having regularly seen the suspect in the area.

Barrientos had been arrested for an illegal drugs-related offense in 2016.

But police are still confirming if the case against him was dismissed or if he was released through a plea bargaining agreement.

Just last week, Bakhaw, which was once tagged as Iloilo City’s drug haven, hogged the headlines again because of the narcotics business.

A police anti-illegal drug operation on a suspected drug den in Bakhaw last Jan 25 led to the arrest of 32 persons and seizure of P918,000 worth of suspected illegal drugs.

This prompted Brigadier General Leo Francisco, Western Visayas police chief, to order the mass relief of all ICPO City Drug Enforcement Unit and Iloilo City Police Station 5 personnel in Mandurriao.