29 NarcGroup men relieved

At least 29 officers and enlisted personnel of the Narcotics Group based in Camp Crame were ordered relieved from their posts yesterday by NarcGroup chief Director Efren Fernandez.

The relief order was issued by Fernandez in the wake of The STAR exposé that the recently busted Hong Kong triad drug syndicate has a mole in the NarcGroup office.

Fernandez admitted that the "mole" theory has something to do with the relief of the 29 NarcGroup personnel, four of them officers. But he clarified that majority of those relieved failed to pass the recent surprise drug tests he ordered for NarcGroup personnel.

"We want to start fresh, so all who are suspected to have links with drug syndicates and those who failed the recent drug tests will have to go," said Fernandez.

The NarcGroup chief told The STAR that a large number of those relieved came from the intelligence division. He refused to name those sacked so as not to embarrass their families during the New Year.

The STAR reported yesterday that a Hong Kong triad, an international drug syndicate operating in the country, has a "mole" in the NarcGroup office.

The "mole" theory surfaced after a letter, bearing the signature of a NarcGroup official, was recovered at the Hong Kong triad’s warehouse along Quirino Avenue, Paco, Manila during a raid by combined elements of the narcotics unit and the Regional Intelligence and Special Operations Office (RISOO) Thursday last week.

RISOO operatives conducted a deeper probe into the NarcGroup official’s link with drug syndicates after recalling that he appeared during the shabu laboratory raid in Pasig City last month and the telephone number of his office was found in a phone directory seized during the raid.

At least 15 undocumented Chinese nationals and three Filipinos were arrested in the Pasig City shabu laboratory and a series of raids in Manila and Pasay City by the RISOO and NarcGroup operatives.

According to Fernandez, he was fully briefed of the NarcGroup official’s alleged link with drug syndicates. But he refused to name the NarcGroup official pending formal investigation.

The STAR source said the NarcGroup official was closely identified with Fernandez’s predecessor, Chief Superintendent Reynor Gonzales, who is presently on floating status.

During his short stint with the NarcGroup, the police official was able to refurbish the family residence, own two houses in the US and a fleet of luxury vehicles and start a number of businesses.

Fernandez is set to submit a report of the NarcGroup official’s illegal activities to higher headquarters of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in Camp Crame.