The illegal drug trade in Negros Oriental continues despite the imposition of the province-wide enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) to prevent transmission of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
Col. Julian Entoma, provincial police director, gave the assessment Monday even as he said that there is a perceived drop in the crime rate in the province due to measures restricting the mobility of people.
Asked how these illegal drugs found their way here, Entoma said he believed these were “smuggled” in through cargo deliveries from other provinces.
With the ECQ in place, all borders of Negros Oriental have been sealed except for the delivery of basic goods and other necessities.
Delivery trucks and vans are allowed ingress and egress at the ports but with only two persons allowed on board per vehicle — the driver and a helper.
Entoma admitted it is difficult to intercept these contraband items even with the use of K-9 sniffing dogs at the entry and exit points, such as the city port and other seaports in Negros Oriental unless these are being smuggled in large volumes.
Last week, police operatives arrested a suspected drug pusher and seized some PHP1.5 million worth of suspected shabu in this capital.
The latest to be arrested was a newly identified suspect, Marlon Martinez Tolintino, 39, single, of Barangay Looc here.
He was arrested around 9:50 p.m. Monday during a Preventive Patrol/Oplan Sita by Dumaguete police operatives. Seized from him were two grams of suspected shabu with a Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) value of PHP13,600.
Earlier in the day, police also arrested suspects Dino Kabristante Mirosa, 37, single, of Barangay Pantiao, Manjuyod, Negros Oriental; and Charlene Soledad Villanueva, 22, of Purok Malang Suba, Barangay Bagacay; Jimboy Soreño, 22, of Barangay Taclobo and Michael Moises Gabriel, 20, of Barangay Daro, all in this city.
They were arrested following a buy-bust operation around 2:38 p.m. in Barangay Poblacion 3 here. Police officers seized an estimated two grams of suspected shabu with a DDB-estimated value of PHP13,600.
Entoma said they are facing a big challenge in addressing the proliferation of illegal drugs even during the ECQ.
“There is limited information given out because what is received here is just more on the delivery of goods and we cannot also rely on the driver of the vehicle who may be unaware of what is being shipped together with his declared cargo,” he said in the Cebuano dialect.
The police official reassured the public, however, that his men are relentlessly conducting anti-illegal drugs operations as he believes that even with restrictions such as curfew, checkpoints and quarantine passes, these illegal drug personalities always find a way to dispose of “shabu”.
As to the drop in crime volume, Entoma said this is in reference to other crimes that were predominant, such as traffic-related, prior to the imposition of the ECQ. (Judy F. Partlow/PNA)