Anti-illegal drug operatives have seized more than P54.3 million in suspected shabu and marijuana in Negros Oriental during various police operations since January this year.
Lt. Stephen Polinar, spokesperson of the Negros Oriental Police Provincial Office, said Wednesday during the weekly Kapihan sa PIA forum that as of Nov. 20, a total of 7.7 kilograms of suspected shabu were seized in 516 operations across the Province.
The confiscated shabu had an estimated street value of over P52.7 million.
During the same period, police also confiscated over 13 kilos of marijuana with a street value of almost P1.6 million, Polinar said.
A total of 516 operations were conducted in the period covered, with 537 drug personalities arrested, he said.
The arrested suspects include 67 high-value individuals, 442 street-level individuals, and 26 others not listed in the police’s roster of drug personalities, he added.
Meanwhile, Fernando Martinez, head of the Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse Council, said in the same forum the campaign against illegal drugs has shifted focus from the reduction of demand & supply to prevention & rehabilitation.
Martinez said that of the estimated 13,000 “surrenderees” in Negros Oriental during the Tokhang anti-illegal drug campaign of the Philippine National Police during the past administration, more than 6,000 of them have since “graduated” from the Community-Based Drug Rehabilitation Program. (Judy F. Partlow/PNA)
