MANILA: The government has seized P6.3 billion ($142.75 million) worth of illegal drugs in 2014, 16.7 percent higher than the previous year, a senior government official said.
The increase in illegal drugs’ confiscation was due to successful anti-drug operations by the different law enforcement agencies, said Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Director General Arturo Cacdac Jr.
“Among the pieces of drug evidence seized during the period were 718 kilograms, or P4.9 billion ($111.03 million) worth of methamphetamine hydrochloride,” he said.
As the lead agency against illegal drugs, PDEA, in collaboration with other agencies, such as the Philippine National Police, the National Bureau of Investigation, and the Bureau of Customs, conducted a total of 16,931 anti-drug operations, 280 of them are high-impact operations, from January to December 2014, Cacdac said.
“This is 48 percent more than the operations conducted in 2013. As a result of the increase, the number of persons arrested likewise rose by 50 percent from 9,162 in 2013 to 13,779 in 2014,” he said.
Of the total arrested drug personalities, 1,399 are high-value targets (HVTs) composed of 63 foreign nationals, 190 government officials/employees and, law enforcers, 58 leaders/members of drug group, 18 leaders/members of armed group, 150 target-listed suspects, 47 wanted-listed suspects, three prominent personalities, 550 drug suspects arrested from high-impact operations and other HVTs numbering to 320, PDEA said.
