FOCUS ON DRUG DRIVE, BAJELOT TELLS NEW COP CHIEF

WITH the campaign against illegal drugs as his main priority, incoming city
police director, Senior Supt. Mario Avenido, will formally take over the
post of Senior Supt. George Bajelot between Nov. 6 and Nov. 9.

Mayor Luzviminda Valdez said the PNP's Human Resource and Management Office
already issued the order of reassignment of Avenido, currently the Maritime
Command national chief.

The written order, said Valdez, has been channeled through Chief Supt.
Marcelo Navarro, regional police director, at Camp Martin Delgado in Iloilo
City.

The Bacolod City Government, however, has not been furnished yet with the
order.

Bajelot, who will be detailed as head of the Regional Mobile Group in
Western Visayas, advised Avenido to focus on the proliferation of illegal
drugs in the city.

He said Avenido should continue the seal-off operation launched last Sept.
25 in the city's "shabu country" -- Barangay 2.

Bajelot, whose transfer was urged by various sectors of society due to his
alleged inefficiency in maintaining peace and order in Bacolod, said the
police's war against illegal drugs is continuous.

Bacolod, he stressed, is considered one of the entry points of illegal drug
trading, especially of shabu in Negros Occidental.

Bajelot noted though that in terms of apprehensions of suspected illegal
drug users and couriers, the Bacolod City Police Office remains number one
in the entire Western Visayas.

He said his impending transfer is "normal" and is being experienced by any
police officer.

The seal-off campaign and other anti-drugs operations are being implemented
jointly by personnel of 10 police stations, Anti-Illegal Drugs Special
Operation Task Force (AIDSOTF), City Mobile Group, 603rd Regional Mobile
Group and support group from the Negros Occidental Provincial Police Office
and Philippine Drug Enforcement Unit (PDEA).

Modus Operandi

Reports from PDEA indicate that drug groups use trisikad drivers and minors
to trade shabu and marijuana.

Bajelot hopes Avenido will take note of the illegal drug groups' various
modes of operation to prevent the further proliferation of illegal drugs in
the city.