A total of 398 elected officials have been arrested in various anti-illegal drug operations since President Duterte launched the controversial "drug war" in 2016, and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) vowed on Friday, April 1, to intensify their operations as the May 2022 elections approach.
Citing the latest data from #RealNumbers, the government's anti-drug monitoring arm, the PDEA revealed that the number of arrested elected officials represents around 38 percent of the 1,049 government workers who were caught in the drug war from July 1, 2016 to Feb. 28, 2022.
Aside from this, 525 government personnel and 126 uniformed men were also apprehended for illegal drug-related offenses in the same period.
Meanwhile, there were 14,648 high value targets who were collared in various operations which included 353 foreign nationals, 4,018 target-listed personalities, 78 armed group members, 1,556 drug den maintainers, 291 wanted drug suspects, 24 celebrities and professional license holders, and 6,482 others who were arrested in high impact operations.
The PDEA data noted that a total of 24,379 out of the 42,045 barangays (villages) have been declared drug-cleared while 6,606 barangays were drug unaffected/drug-free barangays. However, there remains 11,060 barangays which have yet to be cleared of illegal drugs.
The barangays reach drug-cleared status after being issued with a certification by members of the oversight committee on barangay drug-clearing program.
In the same report, anti-narcotics authorities have seized a total of P76.01 billion worth of illegal drugs in the country, majority of which was "shabu" or crystal meth which accounts for 8,170.51 kilos with a street value of P63.43 billion.
Authorities have also seized 4,205.76 kgs of marijuana, 22.56 kg. of ecstasy, 534.20 kg. of cocaine, and 3,483.04 kg. of other dangerous drugs while dismantling a total of 1,057 drug dens and 18 clandestine shabu laboratories.
As of February this year, the consolidated report showed 6,235 drug suspects have died during 229,868 anti-illegal drug operations.
Authorities also arrested 4,230 minors which allegedly include 2,532 pushers; 987 possessors; 445 users; 234 visitors of drug den; nine drug den maintainers; 17 drug den employees, three cultivators, one clandestine laboratory employee, and two runners.
Earlier, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) explained that the rescued minors are turned over to the Bahay Pag-asa centers of the LGUs within eight hours of police custody before turning them over to the DSWD.
Since they are minors, the DSWD said they would not be put behind bars together with hardened criminals.