ANGELES CITY — At least 18 persons including a teenager were rounded up by the police following a raid along Fields Avenue-Walking Street, a fresh crackdown against unscrupulous vendors selling counterfeit sex-enhancing drugs, over the weekend.
Police Colonel Joy Patrick Sangalang, officer-in-charge of the Angeles City Police Office (ACPO), said only two among the arrested individuals including one minor were found selling illegal items when accosted by the raiding team.
He identified the suspect as Amero Condar, 46, of A. Santos Street, Barangay Balibago this city, who was caught selling several boxes of viagra, cialis and other sex enhancing drugs to foreign nationals.
Sangalang said the raid was conducted on the strength of a directive issued by Mayor Carmelo Lazatin Jr., to clean the Fields Avenue strip of unscrupulous vendors who have been preying on foreigners visiting the entertainment district especially that Angeles City will be among the places in Central Luzon to be visited by delegates of the 30th SouthEast Asian Games (SEAG).
“This is the first of a series of raids to be conducted along Fields Avenue. We have to clean the entertainment district of illegal vendors, street children and hookers,” said Sangalang over the phone.
Coaches and other delegates staying in some hotels inside the Clark Freeport may spend their leisure time at Fields avenue during the holding of the SEA games at the New Clark CIty in Capas, Tarlac.
Lazatin issued a memorandum circular 688 in the wake of reports of the presence of illegal vendors and enterprising individuals without necessary permits from authorities.
Police took the suspects to Station 4 police headquarters for further investigation. Most of the arrested persons were later released after they were cleared except for Condar and a minor who were found to have marijuana in possession.