I'M NO DRUG LORD PROTECTOR - NOBLE

WESTERN Mindanao police commander Chief Supt. Prospero C. Noble, Jr.
yesterday turned the tables on his accusers from the Philippine Drug
Enforcement Agency as he denied charges that he was protecting a
suspected drug lord.

"I am ready to face any charges stemming from the said drug bust. But
I am denying their charges against me. I am the father of all
policemen in Western Mindanao and it is but proper for me to correct
wrongs being done by my children especially when they are lying in
front of me," the Police Regional Office 9 director told the People's
Journal in a telephone interview.

Noble said he has several reports detailing alleged abuses and
irregularities being committed by the PDEA agents in his jurisdiction.
He said there were a number of complaints that PDEA operatives have
been arresting Muslim jewelry traders in Zamboanga City on trumped-up
drug charges and forcing them to cough up huge amount of money so that
they will not be charged.

"I don't want to wash dirty linen in public for the sake of the
organization. I won't even file any charges against them. But they can
go ahead and file charges against the suspect. It's the court who will
decide anyway," Noble said.

Members of the PDEA Regional Office 9 had claimed they were "orally
defamed" by Noble when the police general accused them of being
"holdupmen" and a "disgrace to the police organization" during a
confrontation with the husband and relatives of the drug suspect,
Quinta Asaral Gustaham.

Gustaham has long been under surveillance amid reports that she is
involved in drug trafficking in Zamboanga City.

The PDEA operatives accused ex-Sulu Governor Yusop Jikiri and Noble of
siding with Gustaham Friday last week.

According to a PDEA Region 9 report, Gustaham was arrested while in
the act of selling five grams of shabu worth P10,000 to undercover
officer, PO2 Yusop Hadani last Feb. 3.

The report said that shortly after the suspect was brought to the
local PDEA headquarters for investigation and filing of charges,
Jikiri, escorted by dozens of heavily-armed Army integree arrived and
demanded the immediate release of Gustaham.