The culture of violence deeply rooted in the drug trade involving shootouts between drug lords and cops or opposing groups within the drug industry has effectively disrupted the supply of shabu in and out of the province, according to Police Superintendent Ricky Deliles, Public Information Officer of the Bohol Police Provincial Office (BPPO).

The early dawn shoot-out between a police raiding team and drug traffickers leading to the death of Rowen “Yawa” Secretaria, 33 single and two others have dealt a crippling blow to the smooth flow of drugs to the lucrative drug market in the Visayas.

Before the death of Secretaria, an estimated five kilos of shabu (methamphetamine hydrocloride) with an estimated street value of P59 million at the prevailing rate of P11,800 per gram were freely unloaded in the market, according to Cebu police authorities.

Several islands dotting the seas between Bohol and Cebu are now under close watch by the police for serving as drop-off points by drug syndicates including 10 Bohol towns tagged as “deeply infiltrated” – Tagbilaran City, Talibon, Inabanga, Getafe, Clarin, Ubay, Panglao, Carmen, Tubigon and Dauis.

Secretaria succesfully ran his drug business allegedly under the safety of the island residents, sharing his drug largesse of sacks of rice, food, money and solar powered electricity.

Released in 2013 from the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa for robbery, Secretaria was nabbed in Getafe, Bohol but eluded arrest with police confiscating P3.5 million worth of illegal drugs.

Secretaria died in a shoot-out with the combined elements of the Regional Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Group (RAIDSOTG-7), Provincial Intelligence Branch of the Cebu Police Provincial Office (CPPO), Regional Public Safety Battalion (RPSB-7) and the Provincial Intelligence Branch of the Bohol Police Provincial Office (BPPO).

Armed with a search warrant issued by Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 52, Talibon, Bohol Presiding Judge Irma Zita Masamayor, the anti drug raiding team caught up with Secretaria and his group in Banacon Island, Getafe on Saturday dawn, May 28, 2016.

The killing of Secretaria also led to the sacking of Getafe Chief of Police, Police Senior Inspector Marcelino Mejias for his failure to contain the drug activities of Secretaria. (Chito M. Visarra with reports from Rey Tutas)