CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – A total of 60 kilos of shabu worth at least P408 million were confiscated by police authorities in a buy-bust operation at the Mega Station along NLEX in Barangay San Felipe this city earlier today.
Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr., who came all the way from Abra, lauded the Philippine National Police (PNP), the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and witnesses for the successful interception of the drugs, which were placed in tea boxes.
Abalos credited everyone’s cooperation for the bust, saying this is a big achievement of the government and the police just a few weeks in from the assumption of President BongBong Marcos as the country’s chief executive.
“This is a very good start,” Abalos said.
Abalos said this shows that the PNP and the PDEA are “working in harmony” and how the government can defeat the drug menace with the cooperation of the barangay, the community and the police.
“Without witnesses, usually dismissed ang kaso. Pero ngayon, kumpleto ang witnesses natin from the barangay, the DOJ [Department of Justice] and the media,” Abalos said, adding that the government and the PNP will continue the intensified campaign against drugs.
“Wala itong tulugan,” he quipped.
Asked if a big personality may be behind the shipment, Abalos said: “Kung sino mang malaking tao yan, magtago ka na.”
He also asked the community to protect the children, who are the most affected by the drug menace because of peer pressure.
“Proteskyunan natin ang mga bata. Ipastol natin sila ng tama,” he said.
Meanwhile, PNP officer-in-charge Police Lieutenant General Vicente Danao Jr. said Central Luzon has a big market for illegal drugs because the region is a thickly populated area.
“Either Region 4a or Region 3, malaki ang market nila dito,” Danao said.
