The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), with the support of the military and police, Friday rounded up some 45 people, including three policemen, during a saturation drive and anti-narcotics operations that resulted in the confiscation of illegal drugs and firearms in Marawi City, an Army official said.
Col. Daniel Lucero, commander of the Philippine Army 103rd Brigade, said the joint operation was conducted at about 1 a.m. at Barangay Lumber in the City. He said elements of the 103rd Brigade, 64IB, and 65IB supported the buy-bust and saturation drive by PDEA in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
Lucero said seized during the operation were about 200 sachets of suspected shabu and high-powered firearms, including two M-16 armalite rifles and M-203 grenade launcher.
At least 80 “video karera” machines were likewise confiscated by the authorities.
As of press time, Lucero and other officials who joined the joint operation, including Lt. Col. Edwin Layese of PDEA-ARMM, are still in the area to supervise the investigation of 45 people who were at an eatery, which was the main subject of the operation.
Lucero said among those taken in by the authorities for questioning were three policemen assigned in Marawi.
"The saturation drive was made possible through information relayed to the 103rd Brigade by concerned citizens in Marawi," said Lucero. (Elena L. Aben/mb.com.ph)
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