By Leonardo V. Micua
CAMP BGEN OSCAR M FLORENDO, (PNA)– The crackdown against illegal drugs will continue in Region 1 despite the barangay elections, Senior Supt. Alexander Pumecha, deputy police regional director, said.
He said during a police seminar on Anti-Illegal Drugs Operations here Tuesday (Oct. 14) that the police force in Region 1 will not only be busy protecting the lives of the people during current election period, but will also be busy running after illegal drugs and drug groups.
A total of 50 policemen composed of 11 PNP Commissioned Officers (PCO) and 39 Police Non-Commissioned Officers (PNCO) designated as investigators of local police stations in the four provinces of Region 1 attended the seminar conducted by the Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operation Task Force (AIDSOTF) led by Chief Inspector Roque Merdegia Jr., and the Chief Legal and Investigation Division based in Camp Crame.
Pumecha, who was the guest speaker during the opening of the seminar, encouraged the participants to take the seminar seriously in order to intensify the crackdown against illegal drugs not only in Region 1 but also nationwide.
“We must continue to hit hard against illegal drugs, especially those personalities or groups behind the manufacture, cultivation and trafficking of illegal drugs. Let us realize our dream of a drug-free region, and never let this one end up only as a dream.” Pumecha said.
“Region 1 is near the mountains of Cordillera which have become the main site for marijuana plantation. Strategically, because it is very hard to reach and very hard to gain access to, so we must always be on alert against these lawless elements that enormously profit in their illegal activities of shattering the future of our people ”, he added.
Among the recent major accomplishment of the local police include the marijuana eradication last October 3, 2013 in Sugpon, Ilocos Sur led by the Provincial Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Group (PAIDSOTG) that yielded around five million worth of fully grown marijuana.
Likewise, shabu pushers and users were also apprehended via separate buy-bust operations also in the previous month in San Fernando City, Bauang, and Agoo, La Union, Candon City, Ilocos Sur, and the towns of Villasis, and Rosales, Pangasinan, among others.