CEBU CITY – Intelligence monitoring will be intensified in the province of Bohol to prevent the proliferation of illegal drugs.
Gov. Aris Aumentado said there is a need to enforce stricter measures against illegal drugs after suspected shabu valued at P8.5 million was seized from a 27-year-old man in Dauis town.
“I talked to our police provincial director and I said there is a need to implement a better intelligence network. Because without an intelligence network, we cannot gather essential information to detect possible illegal drug transactions,” said Aumentado.
Aumentado said intelligence monitoring should be spread out from down to barangays up to concerned authorities.
“Illegal drug activities start in barangays. If we can see people suspiciously roaming around, it’s possible that drug transactions are happening,” said Aumentado.
Aumentado said the province will continue to give cash reward to anyone who can give information that would lead to a successful anti-illegal operation.
The governor added that the recent arrests of drug personalities were due to the information provided by concerned citizens. “That’s why we have drug seizures recently because of our award system,” Aumentado said.
Aumentado added that he will call a meeting with officials
of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and Bohol Provincial Police Office to come up with a strategic plan on how to address the drug problem in the province.
He said the province will also purchase at least five K-9 dogs that will be deployed in port areas to help detect illegal drug shipment that may be smuggled into the province.
The governor said cargoes arriving in the ports of Loon, Getafe, Tubigon, Ubay, and Jagna are not being thoroughly checked, making the province susceptible to possible smuggling of illegal drugs.
“Barges arriving there don’t go through inspection and we don’t know what items that are arriving there,” said Aumentado.