18 PDEA men restricted over missing shabu

A police captain and 17 members of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) have been prevented from moving around headquarters of the agency following the disappearance of P21-million worth of shabu last Monday.

PDEA spokesman Superintendent Francisco Gabriel said the PDEA team, headed by Senior Inspector Arturo Mijares, are not allowed to move around the PDEA building on NIA Road, Quezon City, where seven kilos of shabu were stolen from the evidence room.

"They are restricted, meaning they can’t move around headquarters. They can no longer go to the laboratory and evidence room of PDEA," Gabriel told The STAR.

PDEA has tapped the Philippine National Police-Crime Laboratory to analyze and examine the prints lifted from the crime scene to match with the fingerprints of the 18 PDEA men, who voluntarily submitted themselves for investigation.

Crime lab director Chief Superintendent Augusto Angcanan said his men are still in the process of analyzing and examining the latent prints.

The shabu was discovered missing last Monday. An officer found the doorknob and the steel screen of the evidence room destroyed.

It was reported that bolt cutters and gunpowder were used to break the padlock of the evidence room. The room is located on the second floor of the PDEA annex building.

Sources claimed that the shabu was taken as part of a plan to embarrass Santiago, whose management style is being opposed by some members of PDEA. "Santiago has been implementing reforms in the agency, but some of his men view them as unreasonable," one source said. – With Ma. Neriza Reyes