ILOILO CITY — About 120 drug personalities in Western Visayas were arrested since the start of the year, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said.
PDEA-6 (Western Visayas) Regional Director Wardley Getalla said Tuesday 30 of the arrested drug personalities were high-value targets (HVTs).
Getalla said these drug personalities were apprehended after a series of drug operations PDEA conducted in collaboration with the Philippine National Police (PNP) and other law enforcement agencies here.
He said they were able to conduct 45 drug operations last January and 39 in February, while the data for March is still being counted.
Getalla said the biggest seizure so far was the 1 kilo of suspected “shabu” or methamphetamine hydrochloride with an estimated street value of PHP18 million seized from a couple nabbed at Dumangas Port on January 28.
He also noted that the leaders of some big illegal drug groups in the region were already neutralized last year, namely Melvin Odicta Sr. and Richard Prevendido. They are looking for the remnants of their groups and other drug groups.
He estimated that 10 to 20 drug groups continue to operate in the region.
Meanwhile, Getalla said they have seen a change in the drug-affected areas in the region, especially in the province of Iloilo.
“There were a lot of local government units in Iloilo that showed support for the barangay drug-clearing operations,” he said.
He, howeve ,said they are still validating the functionality of the Municipal and Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Councils (M/BADACs) in the region as they strengthen their campaign against illegal drugs.
He said 100 percent of the MADACs and BADACs in the region were given lectures by the Department of the Interior and Local Government on how to become active.
“We are just looking into if they really have active participation and if they are really working. It should not only be about creating a council,” he said.
The local anti-drug council is responsible for gathering the names of drug personalities to be submitted to the PNP, undertaking information dissemination on the ill-effects of illegal drugs, and helping in the rehabilitation of drug surrenderers. (Cindy Ferrer/PNA)
