P30.29B worth of illegal drugs seized in first half of 2025, says PDEA
By Chito Chavez
(MB FILE PHOTO)
Around P30.29 billion worth of illegal drugs were seized in the first six months of 2025, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) reported on Tuesday, July 8.
In a press briefing, PDEA spokesman Joseph Frederick Calulut said the illegal drugs were confiscated during the 19,765 operations conducted in Regions VII, 4-A, 3, 11 and Metro Manila from January to June.
The confiscated contrabands include shabu, marijuana, cocaine, and ecstasy.
During the anti-illegal drug operations, Calulut noted that 26,051 drug personalities, including 1,551 high-value target (HVT) drug dealers, were arrested.
Further, Calulut expounded that the HVTs also comprise foreigners, with eight out of the 27 of them being Chinese nationals
The arrested foreign nationals are members of international drug syndicates, according to the PDEA official.
Calulut also disclosed that 24,869 cases were filed by various anti-narcotics agencies, with 14,671 of those already resolved.
Compared to last year, Calulut said that there was an increase in the number of confiscated crystal meth or shabu. A big chunk of the seized drugs came from the 1.4 tons of shabu found in a fishing vessel off Zambales' coast on June 20. It has an estimated value of P10 billion.
“If you are going to compared this with last year, iyong sa shabu pa lang po that’s 4.3 tons na po ang na-confiscate po natin ngayong taon compared po natin iyong sa last year, that’s around 1.7 [tons] lang po (If you are going to compare this with last year, 4.4 tons of shabu were already confiscated this year compared to around 1.7 tons seized last year),’’ Calulut noted.
At the barangay level, Calulut pointed out that 4,027 barangays were cleared from the menace of illegal drugs.