FOUR COPS DISMISSED IN WV FOR DRUG LINKS

VICTORIAS CITY - Four Western Visayas policemen were dismissed recently for
links to the illegal drug trade and for using prohibited drugs, Region 6
police director George Alino said yesterday.

Alino also encouraged anybody who has knowledge of involvement of policemen
in the illegal drug trade, to coordinate with his office.

The Anti-Illegal Drug Special Operations Task Force reported that 13 of 99
policemen assigned in Region 6 either served as protectors of drug gangs
and syndicates, or were drug dependents themselves.

Supt. Mark Edison Belarma, acting provincial police director, also
confirmed that three policemen in Negros Occidental with alleged links to
the drug trade have been placed under surveillance.

Alino yesterday refused to confirm or deny the claims of the AIDSOT, but
said that if there are names, they can start investigation and surveillance
on the suspected policemen. "We need witnesses to pursue our case. We
cannot just announce their names, tell them that we will dismiss them, and
yet, we don't have enough evidence," he said.

Somebody has to come out in the open and give testimonies, Alino added.

Lifestyle checks on 99 policemen have already been ordered by PNP deputy
chief Edgar Aglipay, who is also the AIDSOT task group commander.

Alino raised the possibility of the resurfacing of drug gangs, with two to
seven members, after a lull in the anti-drug campaign in Western Visayas,
since focus was on election duties for several months.

Definitely, they are going to be neutralized, he added.

In Negros Occidental, 127 of the 153 identified drug personalities were
already neutralized through their arrest, Supt. Mark Edison Belarma, acting
provincial police director, said.

Belarma also reported the clearing of 176 of the 201 drug-affected
barangays in the province from June 2003 to May 31 this year.

The Police Regional Office 6 is targeting the clearing of the remaining 90
drug affected barangays in Western Visayas, 25 of which are in Negros
Occidental, in three to four months.*GPB