Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Region 6 Plans and Operations chief, Intelligence Officer 3 Cerilo Baluma , warned the public yesterday against a group of men who are posing as their agents to extort money from residents in drug-affected areas in Bacolod City.

Baluma said PDEA Region 6 Director Investigation Agent, Paul Ledesma, had informed him of the activities of the group.

Baluma noted that two weeks ago, he had confiscated the letter of a person, who introduced himself as “IO2 Baluma,” from one of the residents.

He stressed that these men are not from their agency because legitimate agents do not introduce themselves before conducting any operations, they have identification cards signed by Director General Dionisio Santiago , and they have PDEA badges.

PDEA will also coordinate with the National Bureau of Investigation, Criminal Investigation, the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and with the Bacolod City and Negros Occidental police to arrest these pseudo agents who are ruining their reputation.

Baluma said charges for usurpation of authority will be filed against these pseudo agents once they are arrested. The public is also urged to report these individuals right away to the nearest police station, he added.

Meanwhile, he said they are monitoring the existence of other suspected illegal drug dens in Bacolod City .

An alleged shabu flea market was busted at about 3 p.m. on Thursday by combined forces of the Vice Control Section of the Bacolod City Police and the Special Operations Task Force of Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office, and seven persons were arrested.

Baluma said an area will only be considered as a drug den if suspected users frequent the place to buy and use illegal drugs there.*APN

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