Big haul. Angeles City Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan (2nd from left) checks marijuana bricks along with Senior Supt. Rudy Lacadin (3rd from left), regional chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG).
At left is Chief Inspector Julius Cesar Mana of the Pampanga CIDG.
Photo by Ric Gonzales
ANGELES CITY- Police operatives lodged one of their biggest hauls of dried marijuana bricks and hashish worth some P7.2 million in several boxes on board an ordinary passenger bus at a terminal in Barangay Dau in Mabalacat, Pampanga at about 12:30 p.m. last Sunday.
The successful buy-bust operation also led to the crippling of the so-called Kamot gang, reportedly a major dealer of marijuana and its derivative hashish, with the arrest of its suspected leader and two other women, said Senior Supt. Rudy Lacadin, chief of Central Luzon police’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG).
Lacadin said the Kamot gang operates not only in North Luzon, but also in Central Luzon, Metro Manila and Cavite City.
Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan inspected the marijuana bricks and hashish which, he noted, were reported to be of top quality.
“This is a revelation and eye-opener for our police authorities. It seems that the quality of these marijuana bricks and hashish flakes are at par with those found in Colombia and Mexico,” he said.
Lacadin identified the suspects, all described by the police as “jobless”, as Catherine Lamog, 44, reportedly the leader of the Kamot gang, and Julie Bagcas, 37, both of Barangay Mainit, Bontoc, Mt. Province, and Yolanda Adaol, 42, of Loccong, Tinglayan in Kalinga province.
He said that acting on intelligence information that the three had been a major supplier of marijuana not only in North but also in Central Luzon and Metro Manila, police poseurs, led by Chief Inspector Julieto Culili, contacted the suspects.
The poseurs, who pretended to be foreigners, carried with them some P3,000 cash placed on top of bundles of cut out paper in a paper bag supposedly for the agreed pay off at the Dau bus terminal. The three suspects were arrested as soon as they received the bag.
CIDG chemist Supt. Ma. Luisa Gundran- David confirmed that marijuana and hashish were contained in the boxes.
Lacadin furnished local media with a report indicating that the haul included “15 hashish brown flakes weighing 1.5 kilograms worth P362,500 and 164 bricks dried marijuana leaves weighing 154.4 kilograms worth P6,946,470.”
Lacadin said police operations are continuing to determine the source of the marijuana products which apparently were grown in the Mt. Province
The three suspects, who are now jailed at the CIDG regional office, had been charged before the Pampanga Prosecutor’s Office for violation of Sec. 11 and Sec. 26 in relation to Sec. 5 under Republic Act 9165.
Lacadin said Lamog was earlier arrested in Benguet for the same offense but was released after spending two years in prison “due to technicalities.”
“But this time, they were arrested in flagrante delicto (caught in the act),” said Lacadin after being asked by reporters of the chances of the suspects in posting bails.
Lacadin said there was no bail for the suspects considering the gravity of their alleged crime.
For his part, Pamintuan hailed “the genuine partnerships of local officials and police” in arresting drug pushers.
He vowed to support the Philippine National Police (PNP) units in charge of apprehending drug peddlers. –
With reports from Joey Pavia
