By Jennifer P. Rendon
A former policeman was busted in an anti-illegal drugs operation afternoon of Jan. 14 in San Dionisio, Iloilo.
Jimmy Dumancas, 49, of Poblacion, San Dionisio, was collared at Barangay Siempreviva by members of the Iloilo Police Provincial Office-Provincial Intelligence Unit (IPPO-PIU), together with IPPO Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit, San Dionisio and Carles Municipal Police Stations, 2nd Iloilo Provincial Mobile Force Company and Iloilo Maritime Police Station.
Dumancas is accused of selling a sachet of suspected shabu for P3,500.
When police operatives frisked him, he yielded 14 more sachets of suspected shabu and other non-drug items.
Major Albert Francis Fortunado, IPPO-PIU chief, said the seized drugs weighed around 55 grams and were valued at P374,000.
Dumancas has been a target of police operations for a long time, but he remained elusive until Sunday.
The suspect reportedly joined the police service in 2004 and was not promoted until 2018, when he went absent without official leave.
Fortunado said they are checking reports that Dumancas decided to go AWOL after he flunked a random drug test.
Police also learned that he stayed in Metro Manila in 2020 and returned to Iloilo a year later.
The suspect was reportedly sourcing his supply from another drug dealer in Roxas City, Capiz.
Dumancas is now detained and will be charged with violation of Republic Act 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002).
