Untangle the PNP’s drug web

Despite several hearings, the Senate investigation into the seizure of nearly a ton of “shabu” from a police anti-drug operative last year had failed to unmask the police officials involved in the alleged massive cover-up exposed earlier by Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos.

Police Master Sgt. Rodolfo Mayo Jr., National Capital Region Drug Enforcement Group (DEG) officer in charge Lt. Col. Arnulfo Ibañez, and five other DEG officers were cited for contempt by the senators for refusing to answer questions about the P6.7 billion worth of shabu seized in October last year.

Former Philippine National Police chief and now Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, chair of the Senate panel on public order and dangerous drugs, which conducted the investigation jointly with the committee on trade, commerce, and entrepreneurship, even kneeled before the police officers to plead with them to spill the beans about the cover-up in Mayo’s arrest following the raid at his WPD Lending office in Manila, where some 990 kilograms of shabu were seized.

“I am kneeling now, please, speak up, have mercy on the Philippines, and tell the truth,’’ Dela Rosa said.

But after six hours of grilling them, Dela Rosa expressed dismay that he and the other senators got nothing out of Mayo and his colleagues and were forced to wrap up the joint probe.

“Aside from all the lies, the committee confirmed that there was widespread cover-up in the shabu haul. The cover-up is the main issue unless Mayo reveals who his bosses are, but he always invokes his right against self-incrimination or to remain silent,” said Dela Rosa.

This confirms Abalos’ disclosure in April of a CCTV footage that showed several high-ranking PNP and DEG officials entering the premises where Mayo was arrested during the raid. Instead of immediately taking Mayo away, police officers were seen entering nearby buildings with him, only to emerge with bags and luggage that they transferred into several vehicles. Abalos also revealed that based on records, Mayo was already in PNP custody even before the Oct. 8 raid, contradicting the DEG’s statement that he was arrested in a hot pursuit operation the day after the operation. The PNP also said some DEG members stole 42 kg from the drug haul, which was later found abandoned near Camp Crame.

In all, 49 DEG officers and members were found by the PNP to be liable for the questionable raid and pilferage of shabu.

And yet, despite all these revelations and investigations conducted by the DILG, the PNP, the Senate, and the House of Representatives, Mayo and his superiors have defiantly kept mum about the PNP officers embroiled in what is said to be the biggest drug haul in PNP history.

Why is the PNP seemingly unable or unwilling to untangle the web of corruption involving Mayo and dozens of officers embroiled in the illegal drug haul? This lack of interest in investigating its own officers strikes at the credibility of the PNP’s anti-drug operations and its leadership’s vows to institute reforms. Why is Mayo being given kid-glove treatment and allowed to stay silent in the face of such incriminating evidence?

Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, chair of the House committee on dangerous drugs, also asked why Mayo was used for a tactical operation despite the huge amount of drugs found on him. “What’s with him?’’ he asked.

Antipolo Rep. Romeo Acop wondered as well how the PNP could overlook that the amount of drugs in Mayo’s possession was bigger than those seized from several Chinese drug lords. “Aren’t you surprised? How did he accumulate that [much] illegal drugs stocked in his office?” Acop asked.

Adding to the mystery is Dela Rosa’s revelation that a certain Mike Sy, allegedly a mule for the Chinese drug mafia, holds the key to the P6.7-billion shabu haul. Dela Rosa said he had received word from an intermediary that Sy had wanted to testify at the Senate hearing to clear his status as the “shabu king”’ in the country, but that Sy changed his plans because he was “prevailed upon by his handler in the police force.” Sy could no longer be contacted, although Dela Rosa threw in the information that he could probably be in Cavite or near the Sablayan prison in Occidental Mindoro.

Again, despite all this crucial information on Sy’s involvement in the shabu business and his whereabouts, there seems to be a lack of interest in the PNP to find him and make him and Mayo talk about their role in the illegal drug trade.

Could Mayo and Sy, because of what they know about the PNP officers’ involvement themselves, now be considered untouchables who are too hot to handle for the police force? Does this make the PNP the biggest coddler of drug lords and smugglers? With top police officers seemingly unwilling to cooperate, is there hope that the Marcos administration’s policy of running after drug smugglers ever going to take off?