122 barangays in Caraga are drug ‘hot spots’

BUTUAN CITY — Prohibited drugs have penetrated at least 122 barangays in the Caraga region, and blame it on some 237 big-time pushers and seven illegal drug financiers, the Caraga police said in a report to Camp Crame.

The 10-page report, signed by Chief Superintendent Alberto Rama Olario and Senior Superintendent Reinerio Cuartocruz Camins, the region’s two ranking police officials, placed this city at the top of the list with 42 drug-infested barangays, followed by Surigao City with 30 "hot spots."

The report covered the period from January to May this year.

The regional office of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), on the other hand, listed Bayugan in Agusan del Sur and Cabadbaran in Agusan del Norte as the most drug-infested municipalities in the region.

Although there have been no shabu laboratories reported in Caraga, the report cited intelligence reports as confirming the presence of marijuana plantations in far-flung areas in Surigao del Sur and Agusan del Sur and in Mahayhay, Butuan City.

The Caraga police blamed the lack of rehabilitation facilities in the region for the proliferation of illegal drugs.

Camins, deputy regional police director and head of the regional anti-illegal drugs task force, said there are about 682 drug dependents in Caraga.

Camins added that although Caraga is not a major shabu or marijuana producer, it has become a profitable market for drug dealers because of its growing urban population.

Drug traders usually get their supplies from contacts in the cities of Marawi, Iligan, Davao and Cebu, while some go to as far as Luzon, he said.

Drugs are usually smuggled via the Nasipit and Surigao City ports, he added.