NORPPO monitoring ‘drug shipment’ from Mindanao

DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines -– The Negros Oriental Police Provincial Office (NORPPO) is continuously conducting surveillance and monitoring of personalities from Mindanao following the recent arrests of three Muslim dried fish traders for alleged shabu peddling in Dumaguete City.

This came as the police and the military continue to remain on heightened alert because of the threat posed by the Abu Sayyaf Group in the region — specifically Apo Island, Siquijor, Sumilon Island, Cebu and Bohol.

Acting NORPPO Director Senior Superintendent Henry Biñas said Wednesday that the three who were arrested had different addresses in Mindanao — Tawi-tawi and Jolo, Sulu — but were trading dried fish in Dumaguete City when arrested for drugs.

Biñas said the police could not yet establish a direct link between these two Muslim personalities to the ASG, although he said there is a remote possibility there could be some ties somewhere.

With the help of the local Muslim community, NORPPO is on the lookout for the possible delivery from Mindanao of more shabu to the province via inter-island sea travel, particularly through the port of Dapitan and Zamboanga, Biñas said.

Senior Inspector Don Richmon Conag of the Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit (PDEU) said that Judy Raja, one of the suspects, was found to have a photograph, kept in his mobile phone, of himself carrying an M-203 grenade launcher. When arrested, however, Raja did not yield any firearm, said Conag.

The 44-year-old Raja, alias Loloy, refused to disclose to police investigators details of the grenade launcher and whether he had links to the ASG or other extremist groups in Mindanao, Conag said.

Raja, a resident of Zone 6 in Barangay Looc, Dumaguete City, was arrested weeks ago during a police buy-bust operation when he sold shabu granules to an undercover operative. He later yielded another sachet of shabu, with an estimated value of P48,000, based on the valuation of the Dangerous Drugs Board, Conag said.

Hours after Raja’s arrest, a team of operatives from the NORPPO and other law enforcement units arrested Jul Saiyadi Tingkahan and Almakdul Mudam Hammain, both male residents of Barangay Looc in Dumaguete, during a buy-bust operation at Barangay Piapi.

The operatives seized from Tingkahan a sachet of shabu granules, weighing about seven grams, and from Hamman another sachet of shabu, weighing about three grams. Conag said the seized shabu was worth a total of P154,500 at DDB value. A pickup was also confiscated from the suspects.

Conag said the three suspects apparently know each other and the deliveries of shabu in both police operations were connected.

Conag said the selling of dried fish here could only be a front for these Muslim traders, leading the police to believe that there could be more shabu delivery in the coming weeks.

The police are also conducting surveillance and intelligence gathering on potential “drug personalities” who have “unexplained wealth,” such as big homes, luxury vehicles and a sudden change in lifestyle that are not commensurate to their income. Some do not even have a steady income or relatives abroad that would support their luxurious lifestyle, Conag added. (FREEMAN)