CEBU CITY – Two drug groups could be behind the smuggling of huge amounts of shabu that were seized here recently, police said.
Police Lt. Col. Gerard Ace Pelare said these two drug groups were identified during the custodial debriefing on arrested drug personalities.
Pelare, spokesperson of Police Regional Office-Central Visayas chief Police Brig. Gen. Anthony Aberin, refused to identify the drug groups pending follow-up operations against them.
Last Monday, March 4, more than P70-million worth of shabu was seized in separate anti-illegal drug operations here.
In Bohol province, at least P77 million worth of shabu was confiscated from January to February this year.
These recent anti-illegal drug operations were an indication of the effectiveness of the police’s intelligence monitoring, said Pelare.
Pelare admitted that preventing the smuggling of illegal drugs into the region remains to be a challenge.
“We (Central Visayas) remain to be the transshipment of the illegal drugs but you can also see how effective our operatives on the ground are. The operation last March 4 was a product of extensive monitoring and surveillance and we saw how big the amount of shabu that we prevented from being distributed to various areas in the region,” said Pelare.
Pelare added preventing the distribution of illegal drugs will improve the peace and order situation in the region.
Illegal drugs being brought in Central Visayas are believed to have come from Luzon.
“We have information that some illegal drugs came from Manila and some came from Southern Tagalog,” Pelare said.
Some illegal drugs may have been transported to Central Visayas passing through regular ports but police are also suspecting that drug couriers have used different methods in transporting the contraband.