2 drug havens in Iloilo City 90% cleared–Querol
The two drug havens in Iloilo City, Brgy. Malipayon and its neighboring village of Tanza Esperanza in City Proper, are already 90 percent cleared from drugs following the discovery and destruction of a drug den in Malipayon last week.
Chief Supt. Cipriano Querol Jr., police regional director, said the halt in the operations of the “shabu tiangge” paved the way for the cessation of the flagrant sale and use of illegal drugs, particularly shabu, in the two villages.
Before the drug den was demolished, the proliferation of shabu in the area was rampant.
“Malipayon and Tanza Esperanza are really seriously affected, with users freely going in and out of the area,” Querol said.
The Police Regional Office 6 had earlier created a task group to go after the illegal drug operations in both villages but the action did not result to a significant operation, prompting Querol to order the relief of then task force commander, Supt. Graciano Zapanta.
Last Tuesday, he replaced Zapanta with Supt. Delfin Ricohermoso, former
deputy chief of the 6th Regional Public Safety Battalion.
Querol said the remaining 10 percent drug operation could not be done overnight.
“There are still a few left,” he said, citing Malipayon’s Zone 2, the subject of their current operations.
Querol said they have received reports that some of the drug pushers in barangays Tanza-Esperanza and Malipayon have shifted their base of operation in Bakhaw, Mandurriao, another seriously-affected drug barangay in Iloilo City.
The areas where they could have possibly transferred are also subject of our operations, Querol added.*
