‘HIGH’ IN BORACAY
Bora cops gird for influx of tourists, illegal drugs as summer draws near
BY MONTESA GRINO

BORACAY – Summer is fast approaching. The Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) is preparing for the influx of tourists in this island paradise, and the expected surge in the supply of illegal drugs.
According to Chief Supt. Wilfredo Dulay, regional police director, the recent arrests of three drug pushing suspects in this island simply showed that drug trafficking exists in Boracay.
On February 1, elements of the Boracay Special Tourist Protection Office (BSTPO) arrested Melanie Gorospe in Sitio Tulubhan, Brgy Manoc-manoc.
Recovered from Gorospe were a plastic sachet containing suspected shabu.
During the police interrogation, Gorospe – a resident of Zamora St. Extension, Iloilo City, claimed she was working for a certain “Rebecca”.
Immediately, Senior Insp. Christopher Prangan, chief of BSTPO, planned a buy-bust operation, which resulted to the arrest of Rebecca Yturiaga and her daughter Genevieve, also residents of Iloilo City.
Recovered from the mother were one small plastic sachet of suspected shabu and three big plastic sachets of the same drug.
Meanwhile, five plastic sachets of suspected shabu were recovered from Rebecca’s daughter.
Dulay said that sometime in 2004, the house of Yturiaga in Iloilo City was searched by elements of Task Force Waterfront. The operation, however, yielded negative result.Supt. Rolen Balquin, regional director of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency 6 (PDEA6), said Yturiaga was under their drug watch list in the region.A total of 200 personalities are the drug watch list of PDEA6.
These personalities are either drug users or drug peddlers, said Balquin. He also revealed that there seems to be no decline or surge in the demand for shabu and marijuana here.“Wala man sang daku nga demand of those illegal drugs. The volume being traded is still at tolerable levels,” he added.
Balquin won’t confirm nor deny reports on the existence of several drug trafficking financiers in Western Visayas.
“We have received information (about this) thru letters and text messages from several concern citizens. But we are still verifying these. What he have now are raw information,” he told Panay News yesterday.
PDEA-6 said there are five illegal drug groups in the region. One is in Capiz, two are in Iloilo City and another two are in Bacolod City and Negros Occidental.
Balquin said they have neutralized the illegal drug group in Capiz.
“We already arrested some of their members that was why their operation stopped,” he quipped.
But Balquin said they have monitored several new faces of drug personalities operating in the region.
“Some new faces that we have monitored were relatives and family members of some drug personalities who are now detained,” he quipped.