Mayor Abigail Binay commended the Makati City Police Department for the arrest of two graduating college students and seizure of P1.5 million worth of party drugs during an anti-drug operation at a condominium in Barangay Pio del Pilar on Monday.
“I commend the Makati police led by Senior Supt. Rogelio Simon for their relentless anti-drug campaign that has led to numerous arrests, including the two college students arrested in a condominium yesterday,” said Binay.
On Tuesday, the city chief executive urged condominium and condotel owners and managers to be vigilant against any illegal activity such as drug dealing taking place inside their buildings.
“I am calling on all condominium and condotel owners and managers in Makati to keep a tight watch on the goings-on in their buildings. It is their duty to promptly notify the authorities of any suspicious activities of their tenants, and cooperate in the conduct of police operations,” Binay said.
Adriel Ryoichi Suzuki, 24, of Unit 736 of Cityland Tower 9, was arrested on March 18 after he was identified by the driver of a Grab Angkas who he allegedly hired to deliver a package to Bonifacio Global City.
The police said the driver became suspicious on the content of the package and turned it over to the police at the Police Community Precinct 3 of Makati. Upon inspection, the package yielded seven pieces of suspected ecstasy tablets.
The authorities coordinated with the management of Cityland 9 and raided Suzuki’s condominium unit and placed the suspect under arrest.
While conducting an inventory of the drugs, the police intercepted a text message to Suzuki from a cohort informing him he was about to deliver ecstasy to his unit. The second suspect, 23-year-old Ralph Jeffrey Tulio Esteban, was subsequently arrested by the police.
Investigation showed that Suzuki and Esteban are both college students in private schools in Manila. They reportedly admitted that they were selling the party drugs to their schoolmates.
As of presstime, both suspects are set for inquest proceedings, according to the Makati police.
From January to March 15 this year, the Makati police have arrested a total of 267 suspects of drug-related offenses, consisting of 217 users and 50 pushers. Illegal drugs worth more than P376,500 were also confiscated during the series of police operations.
In 2018, the Makati police arrested over 600 suspects, including eight out of the Top 10 Most Wanted in the city.
To date, Makati has two drug-free barangays, San Lorenzo and Urdaneta, as declared by the Regional Oversight Committee on the Barangay Drug-Clearing Program. The said body has also declared as drug-cleared seven barangays, namely, Sta. Cruz, Dasmariñas, Bel-air, Forbes Park, Magallanes, Pinagkaisahan, and Southside.
The Makati police also reported that the remaining 24 barangays of Makati have been cleared by their respective Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Council (BADAC), and are now waiting to be recognized by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) as drug-cleared. To be declared as drug-free by PDEA, a barangay must first be declared drug-free by BADAC.
“It is gratifying to know that our local police are keeping our communities under tight watch for illegal drugs. We urge citizens to be vigilant and cooperate with law enforcement authorities,” Binay said.
