By Brian Jules Campued
Over 10,000 kilograms (kg) of illegal drugs amounting to about P21.1 billion were seized in police operations under the anti-drug campaign of the Marcos administration, the Philippine National Police (PNP) revealed on Tuesday.
During the sectoral meeting with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., PNP Chief Gen. Benjamin Acorda Jr. reported that at least 10,324.61 kg of illegal drugs were collected from July 1, 2022 until January 31, 2024.
“This is almost triple the value of the recorded 5,472.21 kg of illegal drugs confiscated with a total value of P8.04 billion for the period December 2020 to June 30, 2022,” Malacañang said in a statement.
During the first year and a half of the Marcos administration, Acorda said the PNP has conducted a total of 75,831 anti-drug operations and apprehended about 95,790 individuals.
Aside from illegal drug operations, the PNP also conducted operations against loose firearms, illegal gambling, and communist terror groups, among others.
Drop in crime rate
Meanwhile, latest PNP data on peace and order logged a 10.66% drop in crime rate from July 2022 to January 2024 compared to the period of December 2020 to June 2022.
Acorda told the President that the total number of crimes recorded in the said period went down to 324,368 from the 363,075 crimes registered during the period before Marcos assumed office.
The PNP chief noted a decline in several focus crimes including a decrease in the cases of carnapping (23.27%), rape (11.08%), physical injury (10.59%), murder (10.17%), robbery (2.26%), and homicide (0.91%).
However, cases of theft posed an increase of 4.79%.
To sustain the reduction in crime rate and further improve peace and order in the country, Acorda said the agency will strengthen boundary control and international cooperation and coordination to combat transnational crimes.
The PNP likewise plans to establish its Cyber Security Center and continue the capacity-building of its Anti-Cybercrime Group personnel to address the proliferation of crimes committed on the internet.
Acorda added that the PNP is also training its officers to handle cybercrime or online crimes down to the police station or municipal level since their anti-cybercrime group only covers the regional level. – avds