‘Series of arrests limit drug peddlers’ trade’
The series of arrests of suspected drug pushers in Iloilo City, particularly in Brgy. Bakhaw in Mandurriao district, has shaken the illegal drug trade in the area.
Paul Ledesma, regional director of Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency 6, said that movements of illegal drug peddlers are now very limited.
“We have bounded them at their turfs. Unlike before, they could not anymore trade their stuff in areas outside their haven,” Ledesma said.
Last week, police arrested ex-convict Ronald Caro at his residence in Brgy. Bakhaw, the city’s known drug haven.
Aside from Caro, police also collared Jesmar Soliman of Lopez Jaena Sur, La Paz district and Sheldon Canasarias of Brgy. Calaparan, Arevalo district.
The two were said to be Caro’s clients.
A day before Caro was arrested, members of the City Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Group apprehended Janet Salvador, 30, also a resident of Bakhaw.
Salvador is alleged to be a hawker for a big-time drug syndicate, the Prevendido Group, also based in Bakhaw village.
Ledesma said the four suspects are new drug personalities.
“Although they have been watchlisted, they were not really considered known peddlers in the past,” he said.
Ledesma said the series of arrests compelled drug syndicates to shift their strategies and modus operandi.
“They have realized that we have many informants in their drug havens. We were able to identify the personalities involved and know how their systems worked,” he added.
Aside from Bakhaw, PDEA is also eyeing the neutralization of the villages of Desamparados in Jaro district; Boulevard in Molo; and Malipayon, Tanza-Esperanza, and Veterans Village in City Proper.
But still, Bakhaw will remain the main target because of the presence of Prevendido Group, one of the two drug groups in Iloilo City and one of the four operating in Western Visayas.
“That’s our main target. I hope the people will understand that we are concentrating on (the area). That’s out commitment to our agency to neutralize the said group for the time being,” Ledesma said. JPR
