TWO RANKING police officials are now being investigated after the arrest of two police anti-narcotics operatives and seizure of nearly a ton of shabu in Manila early this month, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr. said on Monday.
In a press briefing in Camp Crame, Quezon City, Azurin, however, said the two police generals' names surfaced over their alleged links to the police sergeant who owns the lending agency where 990 kilos of shabu were seized on Oct. 8.
"They are on floating status. But this is unfair to them because their names are being dragged into this although there are no sufficient pieces of evidence so far," Azurin told reporters.
"These officers have careers, they worked hard for their careers and that is why we are very careful, we are not mentioning any names," he added.
Meanwhile, two police sergeants assigned with the Drug Enforcement Group of the Philippine National Police (PDEG) allegedly sneaked out some 42 kilos of shabu from the 990 kilos of shabu seized during the Oct. 8 operation.
PDEG chief Brig. Gen. Narciso Domingo himself discovered the incident after a review of the closed circuit television camera (CCTV) footage before and after the raid at the Wealth and Personal Development Lending Inc. in Sta. Cruz, Manila which was owned by Master Sgt. Rodolfo Mayo Jr.
Mayo is an intelligence officer of the PDEG and was arrested after he also yielded at least two kilos of shabu inside his car in a follow-up operation in Quiapo, Manila early morning of Oct. 9.
In the footage, a man was seen going out of the lending agency office and was later seen loading the two bags inside a car.
When one of the police sergeants was asked to shed light on the incident, the cop admitted that there were 30 kilos of shabu still in their possession and that the car is owned by another PDEG operative.
When the other PDEG operative was asked to appear before the PDEG headquarters, he informed his superior instead that he would just leave the illegal drugs near Camp Crame in Quezon City.
During the inspection, it was found that there were 42 kilos left by the PDEG operative which has an estimated street value of PHP285.6 million.
"There is an ongoing investigation and as I have said, all those involved, all those whose names would surface in the conduct of the investigation will be held accountable in order to put a stop to the issue of recycling (of illegal drugs)," said Azurin.
After the Oct. 8 operation, the PNP said it would request the proper court for the immediate destruction of the confiscated illegal drugs in order to prevent any recycling attempts. (Christopher Lloyd Caliwan)
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