Druggies yield, caught in droves

THEY surrender by the hundreds, get arrested by the dozen—if not shot dead one by one.

More than 300 people who were either confessed or suspected drug addicts went to the Quezon City Police District headquarters on Wednesday afternoon to undergo voluntary drug testing.

Chief Supt. Edgardo Tinio, the district chief, said their “surrender” was a result of the QCPD’s “Oplan Katok Pakiusap,” wherein the police coordinated with village officials to convince residents on the ill-effects of drugs.

Most of those who turned themselves in came from slum areas in Barangay Payatas, Litex and Culiat, QCPD deputy director for operations Senior Supt. Joselito Esquivel Jr. said. They will be ‘’treated as victims” and referred to concerned agencies for rehabilitation, counseling, alternative learning and livelihood, he said.

But those who will surrender must admit that they are drug users and disclose their source of illegal drugs, Esquivel said.

“We have a process. We will not jeopardize the security of the user who will give us information,” Tinio explained. Another Oplan Katok operation will be conducted on Friday to convince more drug dependents to yield.

In Navotas City, 42 suspected drug pushers and users were rounded up on Thursday in raids conducted on the Navotas Maritime Unit compound on North Bay Boulevard.

Chief Supt. Eric Reyes, the Northern Police District director, said a resident identified as John Edwin Magalang, 23, was shot dead at the Market 3 area after he pointed a pistol at PO1 Alvin Agustin. Magalang was earlier booked for a drug offense and was released from jail last week.

In Tanay, Rizal province, another suspected drug peddler was killed in a “shootout ” with the police early Thursday.

Reymar Bonde, 23, opened fire on a team who was about to arrest him on Sampaloc Road in Sitio Haragan, Barangay Plaza Aldea, around 1:30 a.m., said Chief Insp. Bartolome Oldan Marigondon, Tanay police chief. The lawmen retaliated, killing Bonde on the spot, he said.

Bonde had just handed over a sachet of “shabu” to an undercover agent when the shootout happened, Marigondon said. Police said a .38-cal. pistol, which had three live rounds and a fired bullet stuck in the barrel, was recovered from the slain suspect.