SHABU HIGHWAY?: P1.020-M worth of ‘shabu’ seized in Bacolod seaport

By Glazyl Masculino

BACOLOD CITY – This city could possibly be a “transshipment point” of illegal drugs to other areas.

This was the statement of Police Lieutenant Colonel Sherlock Gabana, public information officer of Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO), following the seizure of 150 grams of suspected shabu worth P1,020,000 from a male passenger at the Bacolod Real Estate Development Corp. (Bredco) port here last Sunday.

Personnel of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), along with the police, intercepted 36-year-old Rhemhon Dumancas who was bound for Dumangas, Iloilo.

According to a report from PDEA, Dumancas, a suspected drug courier, allegedly avoided the inspection at the seaport, prompting the authorities to chase him.

Dumancas, who is a resident of Barangay Padlad, Dumangas, Iloilo, was cornered and authorities recovered the illegal drugs, which he allegedly threw during a brief chase.

He is detained at Police Station 2 for the filing of drug charges.

The PDEA said that the modus of Dumancas was similar to Marcial Delos Santos Jr., who was also arrested at the Bredco port after a narcotic-sniffing dog detected illegal drugs worth P1,020,000 inside his bag before he boarded a roll-on roll-off (Roro) vessel to Dumangas on Sept. 14.

Gabana said the successful monitoring of the police, PDEA, and PCG led to the apprehension of the two suspects, which he considered a result of their positive collaboration against those individuals who try to sneak illegal drugs in and out of the city.

He, however, stressed that they cannot yet tell the source of the recovered illegal drugs from Dumancas, as they are also considering the possibility that it came from outside Bacolod and just passed by here.

“Basi gin agi lang na diri sa Bacolod kay alagyan gid kita diri,” Gabana said.

He recalled the P20.4 million drug haul of PDEA at the said seaport in January this year, wherein the illegal drugs were believed to be sourced out outside Western Visayas, and were probably to be distributed in some areas through the city.

Gabana said that police are continuously monitoring some drug personalities in order to prevent them from supplying or getting illegal drugs in other areas, especially since MassKara Festival is approaching.

Meanwhile, PDEA-6 dismantled an alleged drug den and arrested four individuals in a buy-bust operation in Barangay Singcang-Airport here on the same day.

The subject was identified as Jonnel Cordero, an alleged drug den maintainer, while three others were allegedly caught visiting the drug den.

Confiscated from them were 15 grams of suspected shabu worth P102,000, the marked money, and drug paraphernalia.