PDEA: Drug recycling still ongoing

Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency director general Aaron Aquino admitted Monday that drug recycling is still rampant as a suspected female drug lord buying confiscated drugs from government agents is being pursued by authorities.

“Ngayon ko lang sasabihin na meron tayong drug queen dito sa Manila na ang ginagawa lang ay bumibili ng drugs coming from law enforcement agencies,” Aquino said.

Aquino made the statement upon questioning of Senator Panfilo Lacson during the hearing on the proposed P2.497-billion budget of PDEA for 2020.

“We have to find a resolution to this festering issue. Social menace ito, ‘di lang law enforcement problem. If we have P22 billion worth of drugs seized, P20 billion of which is shabu and as far back as nine years ago, we really have a serious problem,” said Lacson.

Aquino, however, refused to name the Manila-based female drug lord, saying they wanted to neutralize her first.

“I-neutralize muna namin ang drug queen na ito,” he said.

‘Unscrupulous agents’

Dangerous Drug Board chairman Catalino Cuy said the unscrupulous agents divide the illegal drugs they confiscate, turning over half of it while keeping the other half.

“Ang nangyayari, I think, dun sa actual operation pa lang nahihiwalay na ‘yung drugs na itatago so hindi na naisasama sa naa-account,” he said.

Lacson said the use of body cameras during operations should become mandatory to prevent such incidents.

“A good preemptive method is body cams. Kung lahat na operatives may body cam madali makita. If they are not using it or turning them off there should be sanctions. When you join an operation and hindi nagfa-function ang body cam dapat may automatic sanctions. Medyo puro alibi ang technical problem. These are newly procured body cams. If they don’t function during raids especially raids vs. illegal drugs, we have a problem we should not tolerate,” he said.

He said the government should be two to three steps ahead of the unscrupulous law enforcers.

“Let’s face, it in fairness to Aquino, kami sa PNP may scalawags na incorrigible. The point is, we should do something to prevent and more importantly, preempt. Deny opportunity. ‘Yan ang first step. If you don’t, mas madali sila mag-commit,” he added.

Aquino also admitted during the hearing that high-profile drug convicts are still involved in illegal drug operations and distribution.

“Yes, sir. In fact, meron kaming taped phone conversation between the drug lord inside the BuCor (Bureau of Corrections) and a potential buyer. Initially, she (buyer) is asking how much is 10 kilos and sabi ng drug lord, he can give it at P1.3 million per kilo,” he said.

“This is a conversation between [a] drug lord inside the BuCor and somebody outside who would like to buy drugs,” he reiterated.

The PDEA chief said the drug lords even have accounts on Facebook and Messenger.

“Makikita n’yo sa Facebook ‘yung mga pangalan nila, sa Messenger nila. May sarili silang account sa Facebook,” he said.

He said this practice is true not just in the BuCor facilities but also in provincial and city jails which is under the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP).

“Isama na natin ‘yung provincial at city jails, kung ano ang nangyayari dun pareho, under BJMP. We cannot conduct our own greyhound operation, it will take us hours before we can enter a jail. May nangyari na three hours kaming pinaghintay sa labas,” he said.

Lacson then pointed out that former Albuera Mayor Rolando Espinosa, who was then detained at Leyte Sub-Provincial Jail in Baybay City,  was allegedly killed by members of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and other police officers led by Superintendent Marvin Marcos in minutes.

“Si Marcos nga sandali lang napatay na si Espinosa,” he said.

The committee is yet to approve the PDEA and DDB budgets as they will be calling for another hearing on Monday to further discuss the issue.

During the hearing, PDEA asked for an additional P1.5454 billion for 2020 for the:

• Training for 1000 drug enforcement officers (P200 million);
• Short firearms (P35 million) and long firearms (P200 million)
• Communication equipment (P14.7 million)
• Protective equipment (P162.5 million)
• Uniforms for 1,000 Drug Enforcement Officers (P100 million)
• Enhancing PDEA presence in provinces including vehicles (P103.2 million)
• Enhancing drug detection capability, raman spectroscopy and x-ray equipment (P800 million)

Asked for comment about the alleged drug recycling, the Philippine National Police said it agrees that some corrupt policemen continue to engage in "nefarious and illegal acts."

"That is the reason why the PNP's campaign on internal cleansing remains relentless and we will not stop until all rogue cops are weeded out and charged in court," PNP spokesman Police Brigadier General Bernard Banac said.

Banac encouraged the public to report to authorities any illegal actions committed by cops.

The Duterte administration has been waging an intensified campaign against illegal drugs since 2016.

As of July, authorities said over 5,000 drug suspects have been killed in the campaign.   — with Anna Felicia Bajo/RSJ, GMA News