P13.2B worth of shabu, marijuana seized this month but PRRD is not happy

President Duterte was enraged by the continuous drug problems in the country despite the recent accomplishments wherein some P13.2 billion worth of shabu and were seized from March 6-19.

Duterte's outrage was due to the fact that the illegal drugs problems in the country is still serious despite the aggressive campaign since he first assumed the presidency in July 2016.

During the campaign period, Duterte promised to end the illegal drugs problems in just three to six months of his term but failed to do so. He then asked for another six-month extension but the problem still persisted.

But on Monday, March 28, the Department of the Interior and Local Government commended the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) for its successful drug operations that led to the confiscation of P13.2 billion worth of marijuana and shabu.

DILG Secretary Eduardo M. Año said that it was the biggest drug haul in the history of the anti-illegal drugs program of the government within a two-week period which included 1,775.2 kilos of shabu and 421.5 kilos of marijuana.

He noted that one of the major operations was conducted in Karuhatan, Valenzuela on March 8 which yielded 160 kilos of shabu worth P1.08-billion and where a Chinese national and Filipina were among those arrested.

The second major anti-illegal drugs operation was conducted in Infanta, Quezon on March 16, where 1,600 kilos of shabu worth P12-billion were seized and ten suspects were arrested.

He disclosed that the two operations were part of the 1,794 drug raids conducted from March 6 to 19 where 61 suspects personally surrendered while 2,471 were arrested and two died when they elected to fight it out with authorities.

With regards to the enforcement of Covid-19 health protocols, Año noted that a total of 90,585 individuals nationwide were caught not wearing face masks, 66,746 were warned, 16,449 were fined/cited, 5,320 were required to do community service and 2,070 were arrested and charged in court in the same period.

As of March 19, Año said only three cities/municipalities, five barangays, and seven areas are under granular lock down due to their high number of Covid-19 cases and transmission which affected seven households and seven individuals who were restricted to remain in their homes to prevent any surge. (Chito A. Chavez)