The newly installed police chief of Tagbilaran City said that she will further boost intelligence operations against illegal drugs to determine whether or not shabu, the most peddled narcotics in the province, is being manufactured locally.
Lieutenant Col. Mary Jane Peralta, during a courtesy call on the Tagbilaran City Council, said that initial information she gathered indicated that drug supply in the city and the rest of the province is still being sourced off-island but this will still be reassessed.
“Tungkol sa locally produced ‘yan [shabu], sabi nila sa’kin it’s not. But we have to intensify our intelligence operations on that,” she said.
Peralta’s statement was in response to a query from Councilor Dodong Gonzaga who asked if illegal drugs particularly Methamphetamine hydrochloride or “shabu” is now being produced locally considering their abundance even amid tight travel restrictions due to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.
According to Peralta, the drugs being sold in the province while under stringent quarantine measures may have been old stocks as Bohol’s border control has been intensified making it more difficult to slip in narcotics into island.
“I have seen the proximity of Bohol, daghan kaayo ta og points of entry because we are an island…but still I believe na yung mga yun [shabu] ay maaring supply nila before na hindi nila na-dispose at sabi ng mga intel natin na di siya galing dito sa Bohol but nag cross-boarder” she said.
The new police chief who assumed office on Wednesday vowed to trace the source of illegal drugs in the city.
Provincial police officials have long maintained that illegal drugs being peddled in Bohol are sourced from Cebu and other localities, indicating that there are no manufacturers in the island.
On Wednesday, the Tagbilaran City Police Station seized shabu worth P340,000 from a man deemed a high-value individual in the police’s anti-drug drive.
The suspect who was the latest to be arrested for drug charges in the city was identified as Arjie “Buktot” Naya, 30, of Barangay Dampas. Police collared him through an anti-drug operation near his residence. (A. Doydora)