Raid in alleged drug den in QC yields 2 guns, suspected shabu worth P100,000

A midnight police raid at an alleged drug den in Quezon City on Thursday yielded at least two firearms, ammunition and around 30 sachets of suspected shabu worth at least P100,000.

The raid was conducted less than two days after the Philippine National Police was ordered by President Rodrigo Duterte to resume its anti-drug operations.

Bearing a search warrant, operatives of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) trooped to the residence of a Derek Framil on St. Bernadette Street in Villa Lourdes Subdivision in Barangay Culiat.

QCPD District Director Chief Superintendent Guillermo Eleazar said Framil has been on the police district’s watchlist for possession of firearms and drugs.

Recovered in the raid were caliber-.45 and caliber-.38 handguns, their ammunition, and airgun ammo, as well as a total of 27 small- and one medium-sized sachets of suspected shabu, and drug paraphernalia, according to a report by Jay Sabale on Unang Balita.

Police monitoring reportedly revealed the suspected shabu stash found in Framil’s residence came from Pasay.

Operatives initially had trouble searching the residence, because Framil’s live-in partner refused to leave one room, and soon after shouted and cursed at them.

Framil, for his part, denied owning the guns and the suspected shabu, but admitted he uses the drug.

“Ang alam ko diyan tawas ‘yan eh,” he said of the suspected crystal meth. “‘Yun ang alam ko, kasi wala namang item dito, walang mga drugs dito.”

Eleazar said in an interview that the QCPD has conducted three operations that turned out positive since the reactivation of its drug enforcement units on Wednesday.

He said Framil was already being monitored for involvement in illegal drugs and gun-running activities prior to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency’s (PDEA) assumption of the lead role in government anti-illegal drugs operations.

Eleazar said drug enforcement operatives continued monitoring drug-related activities even as the PDEA was officially tasked to take over the conduct of the war on drugs.

“Well, case buildup tayo ngayon, dahil n’ung time naman na meron tayong lull period, tuloy naman ‘yung ating monitoring and ‘yung ating mga barangay officials dito sa Quezon City ay talagang napakaaktibo,” he said.

He added that the QCPD’s thrust is toward prevention and rehabilitation, but the “pasaway” will be subjected to police operations. Framil, the QCPD chief said, was supposed to have been turned in by his parents but the plan did not push through.

Still, suspects would be urged to cease their drug-related activities and to avail of community-based rehabilitation programs, Eleazar also said.

“At kung talagang ayaw, nandyan tayo, ang ating kapulisan, para magsagawa ng police operation in coordination, with the supervision of course, ng ating PDEA,” he said.

The PNP-led war on drugs was condemned by various local and international groups for its violence. Since President Rodrigo Duterte assumed the presidency until September this year, police operations related to the war on drugs alone have killed 3,850 people, according to police statistics.

There have been another 2,290 “drug-related deaths,” and 85 police or military officers killed in action during the same period and in relation with the same campaign. —Nicole-Anne C. Lagrimas/KG, GMA News