• RICHARD T. CABALLERO JR.
About six days after the Silay City was declared a drug-cleared city, three drug suspects, including the two construction workers were apprehended in separate buy-bust operations in a Sunday sweep.
The anti-drug operation carried by the Silay Component City Police Station at Purok Sampaguita, Barangay E Lopez, led to the arrest of alias ‘Pugaran,’ 28, and alias ‘BJ,’ 24. Both are residents of the city.
Police recovered from the possession of the suspects, sachets of suspected shabu weighing more or less 6 grams with a standard drug price of P40,800.
In a separate operation at Villa Hergon, Barangay Rizal, a 35-year-old jobless man named alias ‘Joe’ was also arrested after police seized 7 grams of shabu valued at P47,600.
The Philippine Drug Enforcement Authority (PDEA) and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) have recently declared Silay City as the first drug-cleared city in the Negros Island Region, after all 16 barangays in the city complied with all the evidence that all drug-related activities in their respective communities have been eliminated.
Based on the guidelines of the DILG, a drug-cleared city or barangay are the communities previously classified as a drug affected, but underwent a drug clearing program and declared as drug-cleared by the Regional Oversight Committee on Barangay Drug Clearing (ROCBDC).
On the other hand, a drug-free barangay refers only to any barangays which were unaffected by any drug-related activity as confirmed by the ROCBDC.
All suspects will face criminal charges in violation of RA 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
Seized drug items were brought to the Provincial Forensic Unit for laboratory examination while the suspects remained under police custody for proper legal disposition.*
