By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

After a picture of four minors caught sniffing rugby went viral on social media last week, the Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) yesterday said the Women and Children’s Protection Desk conducted a rescue operation for the involved minors.

In a statement issued by BCPO spokesperson, Police Chief Inspector Sherlock Gabana, he said the four children were located at the corner of Burgos-Lacson Street in the city’s Barangay 18.

The four were aged 12, 11, four, and one year old.

“The minors, whose names are withheld, together with two adults, were caught in the act of sniffing rugby, a kind of regulated solvent,” Gabana said.

He further stated, two of the minors were turned over to their respective parents, while the two others, the children of the two adults caught in the operation, were referred to the city’s Social Welfare and Development Office.

The said parents are under Police Station 2 custody and may face criminal charges.

“The eradication of the so-called rugby boys and girls, as well as of mendicants in the city of Bacolod, is among the thrust of the BCPO,” Gabana added. “Continuous rescue operations of minors are conducted to save these children from all forms of criminality especially from illegal drugs.”/DGB, WDJ