W. Visayas police ops net P72.8-M drugs, arrest 307 in August

ILOILO CITY - The month-long anti-drug operations conducted by various units of the Police Regional Office (PRO) 6 (Western Visayas) last month yielded PHP72.8 million worth of suspected shabu and PHP1,680 worth of marijuana, according to a police report on Friday. The regionwide campaign confiscated approximately 10,707 grams of shabu and 14 grams of marijuana during 236 police operations. "These numbers reflect your dedication and commitment to fulfilling your sworn duties. Continue to exert effort in identifying the associates of these suspects and subject them to law enforcement operations if the evidence warrants," PRO-6 Director Brig. Gen. Jack Wanky said in the statement. The Regional Police Drug Enforcement Unit 6 contributed the biggest haul valued at about PHP42.9 million. Meanwhile, the 24-hour operations starting at 5:59 a.m. on Sept. 5 resulted in the confiscation of 158 grams of suspected shabu with an estimated street value of PHP1.07 million and the arrest of 12 suspects. 'From the numbe r of arrests, four were tagged as high-value individuals and eight as street-level individuals,' the PRO-6 report stated. The highest haul came from an operation in Barangay Balabag, Pavia in Iloilo, where the operatives seized about 68 grams of suspected shabu worth PHP462,000 from a high-value target identified as alias Raffy. The operation in Barangay Our Lady of Fatima in Jaro, Iloilo City on Thursday evening apprehended five suspects, including a job hire at the city hall. Mayor Jerry Treñas, in a statement, announced the immediate termination of any job hire caught in drug operations and ordered all job hires to undergo a drug test. 'We will not tolerate any drug use by any employee of the city. Our support for the campaign of the PNP on illegal drugs will continue to be strong. It is very unfortunate that this happened, but the PNP has my full support,' he said. Source: Philippines News agency