BACOLOD City – Ahead of the MassKara Festival which is set to begin on Oct. 1, Mayor Alfredo “Albee” Benitez ordered the Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) to intensify the campaign against illegal drugs.
Of particular concern to Benitez are the BREDCO and Banago seaports; these could be used as entry points of illegal drugs, he said during a meeting with BCPO director Police Colonel Joseph Martir, Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (NOCPPO) director Police Colonel Leo Pamittan and Negros Occidental’s Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson.
Benitez suggested that policemen posted in the two seaports to use dogs trained to detect illegal drugs.
The proliferation of illegal drugs every staging of the MassKara Festival has long been a problem. Drug traffickers hope to cash in on the influx of tourists.
During the 2019 MassKara Festival, the BCPO seized a total of P2.6-million worth of shabu mostly traced to Mindanao.
In recent months, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in Western Visayas reported that most of the illegal drugs entering Bacolod City and Negros Occidental came from Luzon.
It was discovered that traffickers also shipped illegal drugs from the National Capital Region (NCR) via the Batangas Port and into the Caticlan Jetty Port in Malay, Aklan.
From Aklan, traffickers would then transport the illegal drugs by land to Dumangas Port in Iloilo province before finally landing in their final destination – Bacolod City.
Earlier in January, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and PDEA intercepted a drug shipment worth P20.4 million from the NCR.
In March the PCG and PDEA again intercepted another shipment of shabu worth P34 million at the Escalante City port.
Both law enforcement agencies would again trace the shipment back to NCR.
The illegal drugs seized in March were by far the biggest seizure this year.
PDEA agent Jyxyvzcky said drug traffickers are currently looking for areas in Negros where to divert their illegal drugs./PN