PNP and PDEA vow to sustain drive vs illegal drug groups

THE Philippine National Police (PNP) has vowed to continue working closely with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in the conduct of an “aggressive” drive against illegal drug syndicates operating in the country as the government disclosed the results of its campaign since July 2016.

The PDEA recently released drug war statistics showing that more than P62.22 billion worth of illegal drugs were confiscated, including 8,134.61 kilos of shabu worth P51.33 billion.

The operations also resulted in the arrest of 303,154 individuals that include 12,849 high-value targets. Government data also indicated that a total of 6,182 drug suspects were killed during operations.

The data also disclosed that there were a total of 22,585 barangays that have been cleared of illegal drugs influence during the last five years.

“Our war on drugs has been relentless since it began in 2016 and we have seen an unprecedented massive reduction in the supply of illegal drugs,” said PNP chief General Guillermo Eleazar.

“The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, the PNP and other law enforcement units have not let up in sustaining gains we have been achieving towards the goal of eradicating the narcotics trade in the country,” he added.

The PNP chief added their aggressive operations continued even amid the pandemic.

In July, the PNP and the PDEA signed a joint memorandum circular containing the unified guidelines that should be imposed during antiillegal drugs operations.