Soccsksargen police confiscate P60.1-M illegal drugs in 2019

GENERAL SANTOS CITY -- Police units in Region 12 (Soccsksargen) seized about PHP60.1 million worth of illegal drugs in various operations last year.

Lt. Col. Lino Capellan, spokesperson of the Police Regional Office (PRO) 12, said Friday the illegal items were confiscated in 1,528 buy-bust, search, checkpoint and other law enforcement operations in parts of the region from January to December.

Capellan said these led to the recovery of a total of 7,887.26 grams of shabu and 5,615.05 grams of marijuana.

Also seized were at least 60 illegal firearms and 17 explosives, he said, adding that some 1,576 drug personalities, comprising 1,141 drug pushers and 435 users, were arrested during the period.

“These personalities are currently facing various drug-related charges in local courts,” he said in an interview.

Capellan said the South Cotabato Police Provincial Office (PPO) conducted the most number of antidrug operations with 529, followed by Cotabato PPO with 313; General Santos City PO with 301; Sultan Kudarat PPO with 238; Sarangani PPO with 131; and Cotabato City PO with 65.

He said a total of 46 suspects, mostly from Sultan Kudarat province, were slain in separate encounters

with operatives.

The police official said the number of arrested drug personalities last year dropped by about 22 percent compared to their accomplishments in the previous year.

Some 2,032 drug suspects were arrested in 1,931 operations in 2018. A total of 154 pushers and users were killed during the period.

However, Capellan said the decrease was expected due to the dismantling of various drug groups in the previous years.

“It only showed that the number of people involved in illegal drug activities in the region was declining,” he said.

The police official said PRO-12 has lined up more surprise “one-time, big-time” operations based on orders from PRO-12 Director, Brig. Gen. Alfred Corpus. (PNA)