A regular buy-bust operation led the anti-narcotics operatives of the Philippine National Police (PNP) to a storage area containing 990 kilos of shabu in Tondo, Manila on Saturday, Oct. 8, and the identification of a police sergeant as one of the key players in the illegal drugs operations in the country.
Police Brig. Gen. Narciso Domingo, director of the PNP Drug Enforcement Group (PDEG), said it started with a buy-bust which led to the arrest of suspected drug pusher Ney Saligumba Atadero at around 4:45 p.m. in Barangay 252 in Tondo.
During the interrogation, Domingo said Atadero squealed that the storage of the illegal drugs was located inside a lending company, the Wealth and Personal Development Lending Inc. in Sta. Cruz, Manila.
The estimated worth of the 990 kilos of shabu found inside the lending company office is P6.7 billion, according to Domingo.
“When we searched the area, we found documents implicating a certain Police Master Sgt. Rodolfo Mayo, Jr. The documents revealed vital information as to the names of those involved in the transactions,” said Domingo during a press briefing at Camp Crame in Quezon City.
A follow-up operation was conducted at around 2:30 a.m. on Oct. 9 along Quezon Boulevard in Manila which resulted in the arrest of Mayo.
Mayo turned out to be the owner of the lending company and was assigned, ironically, to the PNP Drug Enforcement Group, particularly the PDEG’s Special Operations Unit in the National Capital Region.
Domingo said Mayo yielded two kilograms of shabu during the arrest. The street value is P13.6 million.
Also seized were various identification cards, his Sports Utility Vehicle and his service firearm.
Dominog said another follow-up operation based on the information they obtained from the lending company office in Manila resulted in the arrest of another illegal drugs player in Pasig City, identified as Juden Francisco.
Domingo disclosed that Francisco has been the subject of various intelligence operations before due to his involvement in illegal drugs.
In fact, he said the house of Francisco in Mandaue City in Cebu was already subjected to seizure by the Anti-Money Laundering Council.
“We also arrested seven people who were then guarding him in Pasig City, Initially, they said Francisco was not in the area but during our search, we found that he was there,” said Domingo.
Nabbed were Lyndon Dionson, Kenneth Dionson, Dindo Chococo, Ritzel Carballo, Bernardo Corridor, Rodolfo Detlla and Virgilio Bacuz.
PNP chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin, Jr. said appropriate criminal charges are now being readied against all those arrested.
“We are also investigating if there are police officers involved in this operation by Master Sgt. Mayo. If we find out that he has some cohorts, then we will arrest and charge them because as I said before, our illegal drugs campaign will be relentless and will run after anybody,” said Azurin.
For his part, Interior Sec. Benhur Abalos lauded the PDEG operatives for what he described as one of the biggest drug haul in the country, especially under President Marcos.
He said that since the assumption of Marcos in June 30 this year, more or less P8 billion worth of illegal drugs were already confiscated.