Baguio drug surrenderees going back to old trade

BAGUIO CITY – The Baguio City Police Office disclosed a number of drug surrenderees are allegedly going back to their old trade of selling illegal drugs to their clients.

Maj. Nicomedes Olarte, chief of the BCPO dug enforcement unit, said that a number of drug surrenderes who underwent plea bargaining agreements in their cases and those who reportedly underwent rehabilitation have been re-arrested for selling illegal drugs during drug buy bust operations.

He said law enforcers and anti-narcotics agents are now closely monitoring the activities of the drug surrenderees to prevent most of them from going back to their old trade considering the situation that some of them had been re-arrested by authorities for selling illegal drugs to pusher-buyers.

The BCPO continues to engage barangay officials where the drug surrenderees come from to help in closely monitoring the activities of the surrenderees considering validated reports that a good number of them started going back to their old trade after undergoing rehabilitation because of the need to have sources of livelihood for their families.

Olarte said there are still drug pushers from other parts of the country who come to the city to try their luck in selling prohibited drugs to drug users but efforts are being done to neutralize their operations that could lead to their arrest and the eventual filing of the cases against them.

He said there are still a few number of high value targets and drug personalities who continue to be involved in the illegal drug trade amidst the government’s aggressive campaign against illegal drugs although authorities are now closing on them through their close coordination with the concerned stakeholders.

Earlier, the regional oversight committee on drug clearing declared that 8 barangays in Baguio city passed the parameters for drug cleared barangays prescribed under existing rules and regulations that were crafted for the said purpose.

The recently declared drug cleared barangays in the city include Cabinet Hill and Engineer’s Hill under the jurisdiction of BCPO Station No. 3, Burnham-Legarda and BGH Compound under the jurisdiction of BCPO Station No. 5, Aurora Hill and Lopez Jaena under the jurisdiction of BCPO Station No. 6 and Upper Market Subdivision and New Lucban under the jurisdiction of BCPO Station No. 7.

Last year, the number of drug affected barangays in the city increased from 18 to 27 during the last quarter following the series of arrests that were made by authorities on suspected drug pushers and users who were earlier recorded as drug surrenderees from the different police stations citywide. -- Dexter A. See