The Police Regional Office in Davao Region (PRO-11) has debunked allegations of the existence of illegal drug laboratories in the city.
PRO-11 made the declaration in a statement Tuesday amid claims by detractors of President Rodrigo Duterte that his hometown is not that secured from illegal drugs.
However, PRO-11 maintained that police units in the city are currently in the clearing stage of illegal drugs here, and that the allegations about the supposed drug laboratories were made in the heat of the campaign for the May 9 national and local polls.
“We are doing everything, intensifying our intelligence (operations) to monitor if there is. It is a continuing process but as of now, we have not monitored any existence of drug laboratories,” Brig. Gen. Benjamin Silo Jr., the PRO-11 director, said in a interview Tuesday.
Silo said high-value personalities (HVP) are slowly losing their numbers, citing the recent apprehension of an HVP in Region 10 who was identified to have conducted illegal drug dealings in the Davao Region in the past.
“HVPs here are slowly losing their numbers, they have changed their area of operations, but they were caught nonetheless,” Silo said.
PRO-11 also announced that the Sta. Ana Police Station of the Davao City Police Office (DCPO) nabbed Tommy Roma Martinez and Anith Pandong Martinez in a buy-bust on April 3.
The two were caught in possession of illegal drugs worth PHP170,000. Also confiscated from them was a .38 caliber pistol with three live ammunition.
The suspects will be charged with violations of Republic Act 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002) and Republic Act 10591 (Comprehensive Law on Firearms and Ammunition).
Silo, who just assumed as PRO 11 director last month, said he is determined to eradicate the proliferation of illegal drugs.
Silo is known for leading the Bataan provincial police office, his previous area of assignment, when it was declared a drug-free area, three months earlier than President Duterte’s target.
Source: Philippines News Agency
