Drug pusher arrested

A dreaded street drug pusher, who is allegedly responsible for rampant selling of shabu in the San Andres district of Manila, was arrested in a buy-bust operation conducted by undercover cops of the Manila Police District the other day.

Superintendent Roderick Mariano, chief of the MPD’s District Anti-Illegal Drugs-Special Operations Group (DAID-SOG), said Joel Opiana, alias Jek-Jek, 26, of 1661 Estrada st., San Andres, has slipped police dragnets several times in the past. He was even dubbed “Palos” or eel after easily eluding policemen out to arrest him, according to Mariano.

Opiana’s fall came when an informant coordinated with DAID-SOG operatives on a drug buy which was supposed to take place Wednesday along Onyx street corner Dagonoy, San Andres. Mariano tasked a poseur-cop to accompany the civilian informant on the said drug deal. After meeting in the place, the informant and the poseur-cop handed Opiana a marked P200 bill for an equivalent amount of shabu.

As soon as the poseur-cop received the illegal drugs, he gave a pre-arranged signal to his companions who immediately pounced on the surprised Opiana. Recovered from his possession was the marked money.

Mariano admitted that despite the MPD’s victory in the war against illegal drugs there are still some barangays in Manila which are not yet drug-free. He cited as example a number of barangays in the Sampaloc district which remain high in the list of drug-influenced areas. Sampaloc residents have bewailed the apparent laxity of police chief Superintendent Ricardo Layug to go against drug pushers and users in his area of jurisdiction.

An alias “Pepang,” allegedly a big-time drug pusher in Sampaloc, has been boasting of her strong connection with police authorities. She was overheard by residents as saying that not “even a police general can stop her illegal drug trade.”

The eradication of illegal drugs in Manila is one of the six-point program of MPD director Chief Superintendent Roberto Rosales when he assumed the top police post in the city on Sept. 24.

Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim is also known for his tough stance against illegal drugs and even used it as one of his campaign platforms during the election.