Drug peddlers in Bacolod stocking up on drugs for MassKara Fest

Drug peddlers are reportedly clearly stocking up on illegal drugs after two successive operations by the Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) between Sunday night and late Monday night seized P5.7 million worth of shabu.

BCPO’s City Drug Enforcement Unit (CDEU) arrested 21-year-old Jeboy James Poneles after he yielded an estimated P1,400,800 of suspected shabu Monday night.

The previous night, anti-drug operatives from BCPO’s Police Station 8 arrested Ahzer Villarosa in Barangay Pahanocoy after yielding P4,318,000 worth of shabu.

BCPO Director Police Colonel Thomas Martir said they have reasons to believe that the recent high value drug confiscations in the city were due to rising demand for shabu brought about by ongoing rum festival, as well as stocking up in preparation for the return of the MassKara Festival in October.

Martir also suspects that part of the P2.7 billion worth of shabu seized last week in Pangasinan and La Union was also bound for Bacolod, pointing out information from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) that drugs seized in those operations were supposed to be shipped first to Central Visayas.

Three Negrenses were also arrested in those PDEA operations in Luzon last week.

As part of orders coming from Bacolod Mayor Alfredo “Albee” Benitez, Martir has ordered all police stations in the city to intensify their intelligence monitoring and put a stop to the entry of illegal drugs.

The BCPO has also intensified their coordination with PDEA, the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (NOCPPO), the Philippine Coast Guard, and the Philippine National Police (PNP) Maritime Group to catch illegal drug smugglers in the city’s BREDCO and Banago ports.

Earlier, Benitez also sought for additional K9 units in the city’s ports in order to boost their surveillance and monitoring operations.

The problem of illegal drugs in Bacolod particularly becomes an issue whenever the MassKara Festival is being held due to the thousands of tourists visiting the city.

During the 2019 MassKara Festival, the BCPO seized almost P2.6 million worth of shabu which were later traced to have originated from Mindanao.

However during the last few months of 2022, PDEA in Western Visayas reported that most of the illegal drugs entering Bacolod City and Negros Occidental have originated in Luzon.* (DGB)