AUTHORITIES confiscated P28.7 million worth of illegal drugs during anti-drug operations conducted last week, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said on Tuesday.
Reporting to President Rodrigo Roa Duterte during the latter’s Talk to the People, Año said law enforcers from the Philippine National Police (PNP), Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), with the help of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), conducted 744 anti-illegal drug operations from March 27 to April 2.
Those operations resulted in the arrest of 1,091 violators, with 81 persons surrendering to authorities. One person died during the raids, he reported.
“Iyon pong utos ninyo sa ating PDEA na magsagawa ng ulat sa lahat ng kabuuang nasamsam ay nag-comply naman po ang PDEA at ito po ay ipadadala nila sa mga kaukulang ahensiya na nagkukuwestyon sa ating mga operasyon against illegal drugs,” he told the President.
To ensure peace and order for the conduct of the May 9 polls, Año said recent data show the police’s dedication of maintaining peace during election campaign period.
Following Commission on Elections (Comelec) directive, he said the PNP has deployed 39,042 police personnel to 5,104 Comelec checkpoints across country.
Since the start of the election campaign period on January 9, the PNP implemented gun ban covering the entire Philippines to prevent election-related violence.
Data released on Monday showed 2,239 gun ban violations, and 13,895 surrendered firearms. Some 2,345 individual violated the gun ban and authorities confiscated 10,168 ammunitions.
“Patuloy po ang pagpapatupad ng mga batas upang mapangalagaan ang kaligtasan ng ating mga kababayan kasama na rin po ang kaligtasan nila laban sa COVID-19 pandemic,” Año said.
