A Manila police official declared Tuesday that they have crippled marijuana trade in the University Belt area following the recent arrest of three alleged marijuana suppliers during a buy-bust operation.
Supt. Ramon Pranada, station commander of Manila Police District (MPD) Station 4, identified the alleged marijuana traders as Fitzgerald “Taguro” Fider, 21, a graduating student from Far Eastern University (FEU) and resident of 1267 San Antonio Street, Sampaloc, Manila; Fransisco “Jun Long Hair” Soriano, 25, of 1267 San Antonio Street, Sampaloc in Manila; and Karlo Villadelgado, 24, of La Trinidad Street, New Manila in Quezon City.
The three, according to Pranada, were arrested two weeks after they received an anonymous text message from a concerned citizen informing them about the brazen illegal drug trade in the University Belt area.
“Malakas po ang bentahan ng shabu sa P. Noval corner Loyola Streets, Sampaloc, Manila. Alyas Taguro, Bernie, Labo, Ponga, at Olet ang nagtutulak po ng shabu dito sa P. Noval Street. Dito po bumibili ng shabu ang mga college students ng FEU, UE, UM, and PSBA,” said the text message of the anonymous informant that Pranada showed to the Manila Bulletin.
Pranada said he immediately ordered police surveillance in the area upon receiving the text message.
“It was a report from a confidential informant that an alleged drug trade was actually ongoing. So what I did was I formed a group to verify the veracity of the report in preparation for an entrapment operation,” the police official said.
Surveillance conducted by authorities for two weeks proved that there was really a drug trade happening in the area, Pranada said. This prompted them to conduct an operation last March 20, he added.
During the operation, Pranada said two of his men, who posed as drug buyers, purchased from Fider and Villadelgado two tea bags of suspected dried marijuana leaves.
He said they likewise recovered from Soriano a sachet of marijuana during the buy-bust operation.
The three suspects, who are currently detained in the MPD-Station 4, were charged with violation of Sections 5 and 11, Article II of Republic Act 9165 or Sale, Trading, Administration, Dispensation, Delivery, Distribution and Transportation of Dangerous Drugs and/or Controlled Precursors and Essential Chemicals before the city prosecutors office.
Meanwhile, a suspected drug “pusher,” who gained notoriety in Taguig by selling illegal substance even to children, has finally been captured, the city’s police station announced Tuesday.
Chief Insp. Tito Oraya, intelligence section chief, identified the suspect as Crisanto Canaria, alias “Totoy,” 34, a resident of Block 58, Lot 4, Sunalan St., Purok 2, Upper Bicutan, Taguig.
Recovered from Canaria were two heat-sealed plastic sachets containing alleged “shabu,” also known as methamphetamine hydrochloride.
Reports from the intelligence section said the drug peddler was nabbed on Sunday afternoon in front of a store on Poolan Street, Purok 2, Upper Bicutan by two policemen who were on a surveillance operation.
One of the cops, PO3 Baltazar Francisco, said he saw Canaria acting suspiciously in the area. When Francisco’s partner, SPO1 Ferdinand Morillo, arrived on board a motorcycle, the suspect reportedly took the sachets out of his pocket and tried to hide it under a rock.
The lawmen quickly pounced on Canaria and upon questioning admitted his illegal activities.
Oraya said Canaria has been the subject of numerous complaints from residents who accused the suspect of selling drugs even to minors in Upper Bicutan.
Taguig Mayor Freddie Tiñga, for his part, lauded the police for the arrest. He also called on his constituents to contact the city’s hotline, 1623, to provide information that could lead to the arrest of more drug suspects.
Tiñga said he fully supports the all-out war being waged by the local police force against the proliferation and use of illegal drugs.
-MB (With a report by Ellson A. Quismorio)
