By Zaldy Comanda
LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-Cordillera Administrative Region (PDEA-CAR) reported the arrest of 65 drug personalities as well as the confiscation over P11.6 million worth of illegal drugs during operations launched in the last quarter of 2018.
PDEA Regional Director Edgar Apalla said that of the 269 anti-drug operations conducted in the different parts of the region during the previous quarter, 204 were said to be intelligence operations while the remaining 65 were “negation” operations done in coordination with the Police Regional Office (PRO), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and other law enforcement agencies.
Apalla said the series of anti-drug operations region-wide resulted to the filing of a total of 78 cases for different violations of Republic Act (RA) 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs law against the arrested drug personalities.
Among the major accomplishments of PDEA during the period include the arrest of “target-listed” drug personalities like Ryan Ander Espino, who yielded P6,800 worth of “shabu” (methamphetamine hydrochloride); Jericho John Tuazon and companion Rachel Dulos, who yielded P6,960 of shabu; and Rey Ann Nonog, who yielded P12,941 worth of the same dangerous substance.
The police authorities also conducted marijuana eradication on October 6, 2018 at Tulgao West, Tinglayan, Kalinga that led to the uprooting and destruction of 21,750 pieces of marijuana plants. A similar activity conducted four days earlier in Bugnay, Tinglayan, Kalinga resulted in the destruction of 30,000 grams of marijuana stalks.
Meanwhile, the PDEA-CAR official reported to the Regional Development Council (RDC) and the Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC) that 19 drug surrenderers had graduated from the Balay Silangan in Bucay, Abra. He also bared that a Balay Silangan will be inaugurated in Tayum, Abra in the coming months.
Apalla said that while shabu remains to be the preferred drug among abusers in the region, law enforcement and anti-narcotics agencies continue to keep an eye on the entry and exit of other illegal drugs as well as the processing and cultivation of marijuana plants.