Jun Torres

129 drug pushers hunted in Ecija

Cabanatuan City - The Philippine National Police is hunting down 129 drug pushers in Nueva Ecija in a stepped-up drive against illegal drugs.

Senior Superintendent Napoleon C. Taas, PNP provincial director, said the crackdown against drug pushers was intensified on orders of PNP chief Director General Avelino Razon Jr., Region 3 director Chief Superintendent Errol Pan and Nueva Ecija Gov. Aurelio Umali.

Of the 129 drug pushers now on the watchlist of the police and Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Councils (BADACs), 36 are believed hiding in this city, Nueva Ecija’s commercial capital, 23 in San Jose City and 17 in Gapan City.

Gapan City used to be a haven for drug pushing but drug pushers were flushed out of the city following a string of salvagings of suspected drug pushers a few years age.

Taas said 14 drug pushers are being hunted down in Guimba and 11 in Gen. Tinio.

He said that 13 of the province’s 27 municipalities and one of its five cities are considered drug-free, having no recorded drug pushers or users.

Palayan City, the seat of the province\ial government is also drug-free as well as the towns of Aliaga, Bongabon, Gen Natividad, Laur, Licab, Llanera, Lupao, Nampicuan, Pantabangan, Quezon, San Isidro, Sta. Rosa and Zaragoza.

The areas still with drug-infested barangays are Cabanatuan (four barangays), Muñoz Science City (one), San Jose City and Gapan City (three each) and the towns of Guimba (eight), Jaen and San Antonio (four each), Gen. Tinio, San Leonardo and Talavera (three each), Cabiao and Gabaldon (two each), Carranglan (six), Cuyapo (one), Peñaranda, Rizal, Sto. Domingo and Talugtog (one each).

Taas said an anti-drug information drive is in full swing in the barangays with police stations reaching out to elementary students in their respective areas of responsibility.

He also said that none of the 333 police personnel of Nueva Ecija had been found positive for drugs in a random drug testing conducted by his office.