The National Capital Region Police Office and the Southern Police District are investigating a group of men posing as government agents and conducting anti-drug operations in Metro Manila.
The group, all wearing black Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency uniforms and using two sports utility vehicles in their “operations,” reportedly arrests suspected drug dealers and dependents who are later released in exchange for money.
On Sunday night, one of the vehicles used by the so-called PDEA operatives was found abandoned in Makati City, following a foiled operation in the nearby city of Taguig. The authorities also found firearms and communication gadgets inside the vehicle.
SPD spokesperson Jenny Tecson said Makati City police station operatives found the abandoned Toyota Hilux, with registration plate number UGQ-317, around 8 p.m. at the corner of Lansones and Mabolo streets in Barangay Comembo.
Recovered inside the vehicle were two mobile phones, two Baofeng two-way radios, one .30-cal Carbine rifle with one magazine loaded with 14 rounds of ammunition, one .45-cal Glock-Astra 30 pistol, handcuffs, three sling bags, a gun holster and pistol case, a car key, and a spare vehicle plate with number NZI-593.
The authorities also discovered four plastic sachets of the illegal drug shabu and 296 pieces of counterfeit P1,000 bills inside the abandoned SUV.
Tecson said the vehicle was found minutes after the Taguig City police station responded to a complaint that a group of armed men on board two vehicles were acting suspiciously in Barangay Ususan.
SPD reports showed that around 6:45 p.m. of Feb. 18, a barangay official went to the Taguig City police to report the suspicious vehicles—a Toyota Hilux and a Mitsubishi Montero, using the same NZI-593 plate number found in the other SUV— parked along Tomasa Avenue corner General Luna Street.
Video footage taken by a closed-circuit television camera installed by the Barangay Security Force showed the two vehicles parked with at least seven men on board. The group was also seen carrying long firearms.
One of the armed men alighted, introduced himself as a member of PDEA, and returned immediately to board one of the vehicles, which then sped off towards the direction of Makati.
The responding policemen chased the vehicles and coordinated with the Makati City Police Station in searching for the armed men.
It was learned that the group’s modus operandi was to arrest individuals suspected to be engaged in drug dealing, and then extort money from the suspects in exchange for their freedom.
NCRPO chief Oscar Albayalde said his office is now coordinating with PDEA to investigate, while the SPD is requesting the Land Transportation Office to identify the owners of the vehicles.
Albayalde expressed alarm, saying: “It should really be investigated whether they are legit PDEA agents or impostors. Maybe they [PDEA] should also check their ranks.”
Earlier this month, the NCRPO resumed its anti-drug campaign dubbed “Operation Tokhang.”
Albayalde said there were no reported injuries or deaths during the relaunch of the anti-drug operation.
Tokhang, a portmanteau of the Cebuano words “toktok” and “hangyo” (knock and plead), mandates police station commanders to ask the barangay captains to submit a list of residents known to be into illegal drugs, including pushers, dealers, users and couriers.