16 fall in crackdown on Gingoog drug trade

AUTHORITIES on Tuesday arrested 16 people in a fresh crackdown on illegal drugs in Gingoog City. Drug Enforcement Agency regional director Wilkins Villanueva identified the suspects as Iry Rose Braga, 22, Sheila Emprerado, 32, Katrina Daumo, 44, Kristina Dumangcas, 39, Al Tyrone Ramoso, 39; Nestor Casbo, 55, Guidon Bucio, 26, Reynan Reyes, 26, Jackie Chan, 18, Kim Dumangcas, 21; Maro delos Angeles, 18, Jan Dultra, 28, Pat Cainglit, 30, Jojo Lope Cuerdo, 44, and Jeffrey Sagrado 22, ug Abdul Karim Hadji. PDEA said the suspects were arrested one by one starting at 4:30 am Tuesday during a blitzkrieg carried out by PDEA and the police. He said authorities were armed with a search warrant issued by Judge Judycia Galves of the Regional Trial Court Branch 42 in Medina, Misamis Oriental.

Villanueva said the suspects yielded a total of 145 grams of suspected shabu with an estimated value of some P600 thousand, five guns, including a sub-machine gun, and bullets.

“Dangerous ’tong mga ’to. Meron silang hit man,” Villanueva said. He said one of the suspects, Kristima Dumangcas, is No. 5 in the PDEA watch list in Region 10 while another suspect, Jojo Lope Cuerdo, is No. 7.

The suspects have been detained at the PDEA regional office here, and charges were being prepared against them yesterday. Gingoog Mayor Marie Guingona lauded the PDEA and the police, particularly Villanueva amd Gingoog police director Supt. Michael Bawayan.

“Our people have always been clear that the drug trade in the city is intolerable, and we have been fed up with the nefarious activities of these criminal elements which are destroying the lives of our youth and creating a sense of dread among our people,” Guingona said.

She called the arrests as an “important achievement” of law enforcers. (nitz arancon)