PDEA confident that all barangays are drug-free by 2022

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) expressed confidence that they will achieve their target to rid all barangays of illegal drugs by 2022, noting that they are already more than halfway their target.

PDEA Director-General Aaron

Aquino said at the Real Numbers PH press briefing in Malacañang that while they are confident of reaching their goal, the process remained to be a challenge to law enforcement agencies.

“We are over halfway on our target to clear all barangays by 2022. And we are still crossing our fingers that by ’22 we can accomplish, to clear all barangays of drugs,” he said Thursday morning.

“Yes, it’s doable but the challenge is so high because the remaining barangays are mostly the most notorious barangays in terms of drug affectations,” he added.

Aquino said that they are

monitoring their regional directors to make sure that they are keeping up with their targets.

“We have monthly and quarterly targets at PDEA, so my regional directors are being monitored if they are committing to their assigned targets every month,” he said.

Based on the recent #RealNumbersPH update, the government has cleared 16,706 barangays of the 42,045 of illegal drugs as of November 30, 2019.

A total of 220,728 people were arrested in 151,601 anti-illegal drugs operations, while 5,552 died during the said operations.

The government has also dismantled 419 drug dens and 14 clandestine laboratories.

In addition, a total of 140.39 billion worth of drugs and laboratory equipment were seized. The total value of shabu seized rose to 140.39 billion from 1 3.27 billion in October 2019.

The number of government workers arrested in anti-drug operations was recorded at 726 with 347 of them being government employees, 297 were elected officials, and 82 of them were uniformed personnel.

The recent #RealNumbersPH data also showed that a total of 2,799 children involved in illegal drug activities were rescued during anti-drug operations.

Government records revealed that a total of 8,185 high-value targets were arrested from July 1, 2016 to November 30, 2019. These included 2,290 listed targets, 725 drug group leaders or members, 222 foreign nationals, and 10 celebrities or prominent personalities, among others. Aquino explained that those arrested with more than 50 grams of illegal drugs are considered highvalue targets.

Meanwhile, Aquino said that the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) was conducting a survey to determine the number of illegal drug users and pushers in the country. However, he was uncertain how the DDB was conducting the study but said the result was expected to come out within the first quarter of 2020.