Minors caught in drug ops concern Sultan Kudarat police

KORONADAL CITY, Philippines – Two more suspected adolescent drug traffickers were arrested here and in Sultan Kudarat province since Sunday, a concern the police is now trying to address with the help of the social welfare department.

 

One of the two suspects, only 14, was arrested along with three adults, Mary Jell Millan, 20, Rafael Millan, 21, and Erick Bustamante, 22, at a residential area here on Monday.

 

Their arrest came after a buy-bust operation a day before in Lutayan town in Sultan Kudarat that resulted in the arrest of Karl Besares, 21, Christopher Paragat, 20, Ivan Jaca Lucas, 23,  France Maamod, 19, Kathlyn Agustillo, 20, and their adolescent companion, a 15-year-old student.

 

Superintendent Barney Condes, chief of the Koronadal City police, on Tuesday said vigilant villagers helped anti-narcotics agents locate the four suspects, all engaged in peddling here of methamphetamine hydrochloride, or shabu.

 

Condes said the arrested minor had been turned over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

 

The minor arrested in Lutayan town had also been endorsed to the DSWD, according to the Sultan Kudarat provincial police office.

 

The suspect’s five alleged accomplices are being detained at a municipal police facility.

 

More than 300 drug offenders and drug traffickers have been arrested by the police in Region 12, where Koronadal City and Lutayan town are, in a continuing crackdown since July.

 

Senior Superintendent Raul Supiter, Sultan Kudarat provincial police director, said they will embark, along with the DSWD, on special programs meant to educate the youth in the province on the importance of supporting the government’s anti-drug campaign.

 

Supiter said all of the young offenders arrested in the province in the past five months had been turned over to the DSWD.