PDEA hit for agents’ arrest

MANILA, Philippines — The year ended on a sour note for the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) after three of its agents were arrested and exposed to be recycling illegal drugs they seized in law enforcement operations.

The arrest of PDEA Southern District Office chief Enrique Lucero and agents Anthony Vic Alabastro and Jaireh Llaguno on Dec. 6 drove a wedge between the anti-narcotics agency and the Taguig government, which evicted the PDEA-SDO from its office in a city-owned building.

The government’s new chief anti-narcotics officer, Moro Virgilio Lazo, has reached out to Taguig Mayor Lani Cayetano. Lazo said he is doing to his best to appease the mayor.

Lazo has dismissed the entire SDO unit and replaced them with agents from other field offices.

The agents, together with driver Mark Warren Mallo, were caught with 1.35 kilos of shabu valued at P9.18 million.

Lazo took over the leadership of the PDEA from Wilkins Villanueva, a holdover from the administration of former president Rodrigo Duterte, who stayed on the job for three more months.

A retired police general, Lazo has ordered an internal investigation to determine whether there is a criminal syndicate within the PDEA.

Lazo has not given up hope that Cayetano will change her mind and give PDEA another chance.

“We will continue to knock on the door of the Taguig (city government),” he said.

In the aftermath of the incident, the PDEA continued with its drive against illegal drugs, destroying various prohibited narcotics worth P7.2 billion which were seized by its agents and other law enforcement agencies.

The PDEA also entered into an agreement with the Narcotics Control Bureau of Brunei on Dec. 14 to beef up cooperation between the two nations in combating prohibited narcotics.

The agreement’s objective is to promote cooperation between the two anti-narcotics agencies through information exchange and collaboration in investigations involving nationals from the Philippines and Brunei.