With 17,000 drug fiends arrested across the archipelago in 2015, reported the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) over the Christmas Season just past.
PDEA Director General Arturo Cacdac Jr. said that the number of arrested drug dealers was higher by 4,000 over the 2014 accomplishment of 13,000.
This, as he cited the Philippine National Police, the National Bureau of Investigation and the Armed Forces of the Philippines for their “tremendous contribution” in the war against illegal drugs.
“We are likewise thankful to the local government units and the chiefs of police who are the vice chairs of the local peace and order council. They address the street level peddling that is why plenty of illegal drugs pushers are
According to Cacdac, the PDEA focuses on high-impact operations such as those Chinese-operated warehouses raided in an upscale subdivision here last year.
High-value targets (HVTs) including low-level politicians and law enforcers are also PDEA priorities, with some 200 HVTs arrested last year, including barangay captains, councilors and other government employees. Cacdac sees even more intensified operations against drug dealers in 2016 with the creation of the Anti-Illegal Drugs Group (AIDG) of the PNP recently.
“Because we focus on high-impact operation which is our mandate as ordered by no less than the President, we let the PNP and other government law enforcement agencies lead the campaign,” he said.
Cacdac said PDEA’s main task is “to sweep the country for clandestine laboratories and interdiction operations or controlled delivery using the airports, seaports and even postal offices.”
