By Alexandria San Juan
More than 19,000 persons were arrested by the Quezon City police in its district-wide simultaneous anti-criminality and law enforcement operations within 11 days from the start of the election gun ban on January 13.
QCPD
Quezon City Police District director, Chief Superintendent Joselito Esquivel Jr., said a total of 19,209 persons were arrested, including those who were nabbed for violating the existing Comelec gun ban, in Quezon City from January 13 to January 24.
Since the start of the gun ban, Esquivel said that a total of 25 violators were arrested in 418 Comelec Checkpoints in the City which resulted in the confiscation of 24 short firearms, 4 long firearms, 272 assorted ammunition, 11 bladed weapons, and 2 hand grenades.
The operations also led to the arrest of 313 drug personalities in 145 anti-drug operations and the confiscation of more than a kilogram of shabu with an estimated street value of over P11 million, and more than two kilograms of dried marijuana leaves worth over P250,000 in street value.
During the same period, at least 13 armed suspects were killed in seven separate encounters with policemen.
Recovered from the slain suspects were 11 short firearms, two gun replicas and several sachets of shabu.
The operations also resulted in the arrest of 107 wanted persons, 128 for illegal gambling, 18,636 violators of city ordinances, and 240 motor vehicles impounded for various traffic violations.
Esquivel noted that since June 13, the QCPD arrested a total of 412,057 city ordinance violators in Quezon City.
He reiterated his call to the public to obey laws and ordinances to avoid being charged and penalized.
"Among the frequently violated laws and city ordinances include jaywalking, drinking intoxicating alcohol, smoking and roaming half-naked in public places," he said.
The QCPD chief explained that the relentless simultaneous operations is in preparation for the upcoming 2019 midterm elections which were implemented by operational and administrative personnel from the District Headquarters, District Mobile Force Battalion and the 12 Police Stations composed of 2,729 police non-commissioned officers and 81 police commissioned officers.#