TEN members of the PNP Drug Enforcement Group (PDEG) have been relieved from their posts pending an investigation on the arrest of another PDEG operative who owned the establishment where some 990 kilos of shabu were seized in Manila last month.
PNP spokeswoman Col. Jean Fajardo did not name the sacked policemen but said they were led by a lieutenant colonel assigned with the Special Operations Unit (SOU) of PDEG-National Capital Region.
Fajardo said the 10 were re-assigned to the PNP Personnel Holding and Accounting Unit at the PNP national headquarters at Camp Crame.
“They were relieved to give way to the ongoing investigation,” said Fajardo of the 10 personnel, which she said included the supervisor, team leaders and fellow PDEG operatives of the suspect, M/Sgt. Rodolfo Mayo Jr.
Mayo, assigned with the SOU of PDEG-NCR, was nabbed by PDEG operatives last October 9 during a follow-up operation in Quiapo, Manila. Seized from him were two kilos of shabu worth P16.8 million.
Mayo’s arrest came a day after PDEG operatives raided a money lending firm he reportedly owned. Policemen recovered at the establishment a total of 990 kilos of shabu, worth P6.7 billion, the largest drug haul in a single operation under the Marcos administration so far.
Fajardo clarified the 10 policemen were not implicated by Mayo in the illegal drugs trade.
She said they were relieved “under the doctrine of command responsibility” and to give way to the ongoing probe.
On the supervisor of Mayo, Fajardo asked: “How come, as the supervisor, he was not able to monitor (the activities of Mayo)?
“We are not saying they are directly involved with Mayo who was caught in possession of (a) large amount of shabu but for transparency and accountability, they were relieved from PDEG to give way to the investigation being conducted by a special investigation task group,” said Fajardo.
“They belong to one unit,” said Fajardo, referring to the unit of the 10 sacked policemen and Mayo. “Their previous operations are being looked into.”
