Retired SF cop: Sinaloa drug ring ‘violent, dominating’

MANILA, Philippines - A retired Filipino-American police official from San Francisco in the US yesterday expressed concern over the reported presence of the Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel in the Philippines.

“When I and my colleagues read about that, we (became) very concerned because the Mexican drug cartel, as many people know, is very violent, very dominating,” retired lieutenant Eric Quema said during an interview with reporters.

Quema, formerly of the San Francisco Police Department, heads a delegation of the SFPD’s Filipino American Law Enforcement Officers Association (FALEO). He met with Philippine National Police chief Director General Alan Purisima at Camp Crame yesterday as part of the Police Exchange Training program between the PNP and the SFPD-FALEO.

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency confirmed the entry of the Sinaloa after a raid in Batangas, where the arrested suspects were found to be connected with the Mexico-based drug ring.

Quema warned that the Sinaloa is “very active” in Mexico and is known for “beheading and killing public officials.”

He noted that the US has pretty much curbed the Sinaloa’s operation but “we can’t completely wipe them out. My concern is the Philippines, because they’re coming way across here just to do their business.”

According to Quema, the cartel earns billions of dollars from drug trafficking.

“So they can have whatever they need. They can buy and rent properties, cash only because they can use that to bribe people to use their homes, to use their businesses as fronts of their illegal activities. So it’s a lot of money involved here. High risks, high money,” he said.