By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga
The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in Negros Occidental said there are currently nine operating drug groups in the province and in Bacolod City based on their latest monitoring.
PDEA-Negros Occidental director Nicolas Gomez said the notorious Divinagracia drug group is among the groups they are still monitoring.
Gomez said even though the drug group’s leader Michael Divinagracia is already dead, the group’s remnants are still operating, although they are currently “lying low” just like the other drug groups.
However, Gomez said Divinagracia’s death had certainly made a huge impact in the supply of illegal drugs.
Last month, Divinagracia was found dead in the town of Baras in Rizal province. The slain drug lord was believed to have been strangled to death with a steel wire, prior to being finished off with gunshots.
Divinagracia is the top most wanted drug suspect in Negros Occidental, and has a bounty on his head amounting to P500,000. He fled to Region IV-A in 2019.
At present, PDEA is currently deliberating as to which new barangays will be declared drug-free in Negros Occidental. Although Gomez said as of the present there are no candidates in Bacolod City./DGB, WDJ