• THERESA MAE DULMAN
Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) Director PCol. Joeresty Coronica stated that based on their parameters, there are no organized drug groups or major drug manufacturers currently operating within Bacolod City.
Coronica said that they monitored a drug group before but it was dismantled in the city after the arrest of Caunda drug group sub-leader Faisal Sacar December last year.
In a press briefing, he noted that drug-related operations in Bacolod City now primarily involve freelance suspects.
The city director clarified that while the city’s drug problem continues, the supply is primarily sourced from Dumaguete, having been transported by sea from Cebu, and its origin remains unknown to authorities.
He added that Bacolod City, being the trade center of Negros Island, is consistently identified as a transshipment point for illegal drugs intended not just for local consumption but also for distribution and use in Panay Island.
Meanwhile, only more than 30 percent of the barangays in Bacolod City have been declared drug-cleared.
“The problem with illegal drugs is that it becomes a livelihood. As long as there is poverty, illegal drugs will remain,” Coronica said.
BCPO said that they have arrested close to 1,000 drug suspects since July 2024.*
