A total of P89.79 billion worth of prohibited drugs were seized by government's anti-narcotics agencies since the start of the Duterte administration, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said.
In the Real Numbers data released on June 21, PDEA said the amount includes P77.01 billion worth of shabu as of May 31.
From July 2016 to May 2022, authorities destroyed 8,194.89 kilograms (kg.) of shabu, 5, 111.76 kgs of marijuana, 23.70 kgs of ecstasy, 534.20 kg. of cocaine, and 3,491.23 kg. of other dangerous drugs while dismantling a total of 1,197 drug dens and 19 clandestine shabu laboratories.
The PDEA report also noted that a total of 15,271 high-value targets (HVTs) were arrested in the country since the launch of the all-out war against illegal drugs on July 1, 2016.
The agency’s data includes 6,873 HVTs arrested from high impact operations, 4,052 target-listed suspects, 1,719 drug den maintainers, 800 drug group leaders/members, 533 government employees, 406 elected officials, 364 foreigners, 295 included on wanted lists, 127 uniformed personnel, 78 armed group members and 24 prominent personalities.
State forces also nabbed 345,216 individuals involved in illegal drugs during the six-year period.
The consolidated report of anti-narcotics authorities disclosed that as of May 2022 6,252 drug personalities were killed in 239,218 lawful anti-illegal drug operations.
In the six-year period, authorities also arrested 4,414 minors consisting of 2,666 pushers; 1,012 possessors; 455 users; 247 visitors of drug den; 10 drug den maintainers; 18 drug den employees, three cultivators, one clan lab employee, and two runners.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) pointed out that the rescued minors will be turned over to the Bahay Pag-asa centers of LGUs within eight hours of police custody, before turning them over to the DSWD after court proceedings.
The minors will not be imprisoned together with hardened criminals, the DSWD assured.
A total of 25,361 out of the 42,045 barangays (villages) nationwide have been declared drug-cleared as of May 2022 while 6,573 barangays were drug unaffected/drug-free barangays and 10,112 have yet to be cleared of illegal drugs.
The barangays that have been recognized as drug-cleared were issued the certification by members of the oversight committee on barangay drug-clearing program.
In all of the anti-illegal drug operations, PDEA assured that the health and safety of its personnel were prioritized in the midst of the pandemic. (Chito A. Chavez)