1,841 nabbed for drugs in Metro Manila – NCRPO

A total of 1,841 people were arrested and P183 million worth of illegal drugs were confiscated in a series of drug stings conducted by the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) in Metro Manila during the first quarter of the year, a police official said yesterday.

Of those arrested, 300 were classified by the NCRPO as drug pushers, 916 were users and the remaining 625 pusher-users, NCRPO chief Director Carmelo Valmoria said.

Valmoria said they have filed 1,626 drug cases in various courts in Metro Manila.

“There is a difference in the number of persons arrested as compared to the cases filed in courts because there were operations wherein more than one person was arrested,” he said in an interview.

The NCRPO chief said the drug stings were conducted in coordination with local government units (LGUs) and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).

Valmoria refused to comment on the statement made by Philippine National Police spokesman Senior Superintendent Bartolome Tobias that 92 percent of barangays in Metro Manila were drug-affected in 2014.

Of the 1,706 barangays in the metropolis, only 130 may be considered as drug-free, Tobias said.

However, he urged the public not to be alarmed as the apparent high rate of drug cases in Metro Manila was based on previous guidelines of the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB).

“There is a need to review the DDB guidelines. The statistics of 92 percent is alarming but if you look deeper, the problem is not that bad,” Tobias said.

“Under the parameters of DDB, a barangay is considered drug-affected when authorities monitor the existence of at least one drug user, who could have bought the drug from another barangay,” he explained.

Valmoria said the anti-drug operation in Metro Manila was part of the Oplan Lambat Sibat program implemented by Interior Secretary Mar Roxas in June last year.

“Like in our campaign against crime, we instruct our district and station commanders to list their own top 10 drug personalities in their jurisdiction for them to neutralize,” said Valmoria.

He said the NCRPO was able to reduce the number of crimes in Metro Manila since June last year.

He added the NCRPO’s campaign against drugs netted majority of the drug pushers listed as their target personalities.

Valmoria said LGUs in Metro Manila have created their barangay anti-drug councils, which played key roles in the neutralization of drug pushers and users in their areas.

‘Smuggled drugs flood MM’

A majority of illegal drugs being peddled in Metro Manila are imported and smuggled into the country, mostly from China, the spokesman for the PNP said.

Tobias said that based on the figures of confiscated drugs in the past two years, authorities seized more imported drugs compared to those being manufactured in drug laboratories in the country.

“If we look at the records, more smuggled drugs were seized by police,” he said.

Tobias, former head of the PNP’s AntiIllegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force, said that AIDSOTF, PDEA and the National Bureau of Investigation have intensified the campaign against illegal drugs.