By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

The Police Regional Office-18 (PRO-18) is currently awaiting orders from higher-ups in Camp Crame, after President Rodrigo Duterte cleared the Philippine National Police (PNP) to return to conducting anti-drug operations.
PRO-18 Director, Police Chief Superintendent Renato Gumban, said they are waiting for the directives from PNP chief, Director General Ronald ‘Bato’ Dela Rosa.
He said, this time, PNP anti-drug operations will be fully coordinated with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), as they will serve as the lead agency in the ongoing drug war.
Gumban also stated, since the formal dissolution of the Anti-Illegal Drugs Group (AIDG), they will now start a new anti-drug unit in the Negros Island Region (NIR), to be comprised of officers who have no records of corruption.
“Since the AIDG is dissolved, their former members will no longer be allowed to join the newly-formed anti-drug units,” Gumban said.
The new units include the Regional Drug Enforcement Group-18 (RDEG-18), the City Drug Enforcement Unit (CDEU), and the Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit (PDEU), all of which are under direct control of PRO-18.
Gumban further noted, during the suspension of the PNP in illegal drug operations, there has been a spike in the sale and use of illegal drugs throughout the NIR.
“In one case, I even received a report in which a tricycle driver delivered several sachets of shabu, which was then picked up and delivered by children to the buyer,” he said. “I told the RSOG (Regional Special Operations Group) to relay the information to PDEA, but with the time gap, it was now too late for the agency to react.”
According to the latest intelligence reports, the entry points for shabu in the NIR are San Carlos City and Dumaguete City from Cebu Island; whereas entry to Bacolod City comes from Iloilo City, through the town of Dumangas.
However, all drugs entering NIR are said to originate from Mindanao. Gumban also previously cited suspected Berya drug group member Ricky Serenio, noting the possible existence of a mega shabu lab in the island./WDJ