An ally of a former president and a former Philippine National Police chief have been tagged in a matrix of police and high-profile personalities allegedly engaged in the illegal drug operations in the country.
Two members of the PNP’s special team investigating the alleged pilferage of 40 kilos of shabu in Manila revealed this information to Politiko over the weekend.
The names of the prominent supporter-turned-politician and the retired police general cropped up during the in-depth probe of the PNP on the syndicate involved in the entry of 990 kilos of shabu in the country.
Sources added that there is a myriad of “ninja cops” behind the drug shipment seized in Manila, which the Special Investigation Task Group established during their counter-intelligence and backtracking efforts after the Oct. 8 operation.
SITG supervisor and PNP Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management chief Maj. Gen. Eliseo Cruz is expected to reveal results of their months-long probe in a press conference at Camp Crame.
Earlier, Interior and Local Government Sec. Benhur Abalos tagged at least 10 police officers allegedly involved in the drug operation as behind an attempt to cover up the alleged pilferage of around 40 kilos of shabu, The parcel was supposedly part of the 990 kilos seized in a building owned by Police MSgt. Rodolfo Mayo, Jr. in Ermita last Oct. 8, 2022.
Rather than seeing the P 6.7-billion shabu haul as a major accomplishment, Abalos has turned the tables on members of the arresting team, tagging them part of a cover-up. The secretary has also reportedly locked his eye on the top PNP officials, following a long-standing feud between them since the assumption of outgoing PNP chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin, Jr. last year.
“It’s a divide and conquer strategy being employed by those who are obviously going to be affected by findings of the PNP inquiry. This goes to how drug syndicates have infiltrated high echelons of our government,” a top official told Politiko.
“They are trying to pre-empt the PNP because the investigators have opened a Pandora’s box when it raided the Manila warehouse and seized the 990 kilos of shabu,” another source said.
The PNP has vowed to let the axe fall on any of the rotten eggs within the organization, but it also promised to uphold the rule of law and provide an avenue for those dragged in the controversy to be heard in the proper forum, an official added.
