Anti-drug ops seize over P43-M in Western Visayas in May

ILOILO CITY – The month-long anti-drug operations conducted by different police units in Western Visayas last month seized PHP43.3 million worth of shabu and marijuana.

Brig. Gen. Jack Wanky, regional director of the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO6), on Monday reported that the intensified campaign resulted in the confiscation of 6,022 grams of shabu valued at PHP40.9 million, and about 20 kilos of marijuana with an estimated price of PHP2.4 million.

The total value seized last month was higher than the PHP35.9 million recoveries posted in April.

Wanky said the drug syndicates have adopted a new marketing strategy, such that law enforcement agencies continue to confiscate volumes of drugs amid the intensified operations.

He said drug peddlers are assured of more supplies once their stocks are seized, and are not compelled to pay for the volumes confiscated during operations.

“That’s the reason why there was an order at the national headquarters, especially for our drug enforcement unit spearheading our drug interdiction, to intensify their intelligence monitoring so the supply can no longer enter the country and get distributed in the provinces,” he told the media in a press conference.

The region’s top cop said that together with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), they are assessing and reviewing if the Barangay Drug Clearing Program is effective because drug incidence continues.

“The high percentage of drug-cleared barangays is not an assurance that drug incidence is declining. We can see the actual picture. Even if we are 95 percent as drug-cleared, we can still see a lot of users,” he said.

Wanky did not discount the possibility that drug activity may still occur in a drug-cleared barangay.

Graciella Tanaleon, PDEA Western Visayas information officer, agreed with the PNP official that a drug-cleared status is not permanent.

“A drug-cleared barangay must sustain its status, thus an illegal drug activity must be reported ASAP (as soon as possible) for it to be acted upon,” she said.

As of the end of May, Western Visayas is 92.99 percent cleared, with only 284 out of 4,051 remaining barangays left to be deliberated, the PDEA said in a statement.

During the latest deliberation held in Iloilo City on May 31, the Regional Oversight Committee Deliberation on Barangay Drug Clearing Program (ROCBDC) approved the drug-cleared status of 10 barangays while 130 others retained their drug-cleared status. (PNA)