POLICE Regional Office 2 director, Brigadier General Crizaldo O. Nieves yesterday announced the arrest of 114 wanted persons and 60 other lawbreakers following a series of anti-criminality operations in Cagayan Valley on Tuesday.
Nieves said the day-long conduct of the Simultaneous Anti-Criminality Law Operations or SACLEO in the region is in line with the directive of Philippine National Police chief, General Camilo Pancratius P. Cascolan for an all-out campaign against most wanted persons, illegal drugs, firearms and other violators of the law.
“We are adhering to the directives of our Chief PNP and are intensifying our operations to make Cagayan Valley a better place to live, work and do business,” sakd the member of PNP Academy Class 1989.
The official said 66 of the 114 wanted persons they arrested last Monday were among the region’s top most wanted men. Another 48 are among those in the PRO2 list of ‘other wanted persons’ in the region.
The Cagayan Valley police director said that among those arrested last Monday were 19 known drug targets. He said that the suspect, one of them a ‘high-value individual’ and 13 ‘street-level individuals’ were arrested as a result of 17 anti-narcotics operations.
Nieves said that during anti-illegal firearm operations last Monday, his men launched 35 operations which led to the arrest of 18 suspects and the seizure of 11 handguns, two 12-gauge shotguns, several magazines with live ammunition and a hand grenade.
Another 18 individuals were also arrested for their involvement in illegal gambling activities while two were held for violation of Presidential Decree 705 or illegal logging. Recovered from the two suspects were more than 1,000 board feet of illegally-cut forest products valued at nearly P50,000.
Cagayan Police Provincial Office director, Colonel Ariel N. Quilang said one of those arrested was French national Samer Fawaz Madi, a regional priority ‘HVI’ who yielded dried marijuana leaves and boodle money topped by a marked P500 bill during a buy-bust operation.
Three other anti-narcotics operations in the province led to the arrest of Senn-Jamir Barga, Lester Tumanguil, John Moller and Jayson Dangarang. Recovered from the suspects were shabu, marijuana and the marked money paid to them by undercover officers.
The Cagayan police also accounted for 19 Top Most Wanted Person in the municipal and provincial level last Monday. The suspects include Carlo Calata, Gabby Malana, Jaka Pagalilauan, Howard Galleta and Jovenal Batelo, all wanted for rape in Aparri, Buguey, Peñablanca and Solana municipalities respectively; and Arnandy Siatriz, a resident of Gonzaga municipality wanted for murder.
The other suspects arrested are wanted for estafa, frustrated murder, adultery, robbery, theft, illegal possession of firearms and violation of the anti-graft and corrupt practices act.
Nieves said the suspects who yielded illegal firearms, explosive and drugs are facing criminal charges for violation of Republic Act 10591 or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulations Act of 2013, RA 9516 or illegal possession of explosives and RA 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
The official said that on the same day, they also conducted 100 medical and civic missions in areas in the region which are known to have been infiltrated by the New People’s Army.
Around 4,300 local residents benefitted from the medical mission which is in consonance with the PRO2’s full support to Executive Order No. 70 which created the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflicts.
