LEGAZPI CITY --- The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in Bicol has welcomed the directive of President Rodrigo Duterte restoring the role of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in the government’s war against drugs.
PDEA Regional Director Christian Frivaldo said in an interview that this development would further strengthen cooperation and collaborations among law enforcement units in investigation and intelligence gathering and boost the illegal drug campaign of the national government.
He said, “with a well-coordinated and synchronized system of operation between the agency and the PNP, I don’t see how we would fail.”
Frivaldo said he hopes that the collaboration and support will also amplify among local government officials in the demand reduction side of the campaign while the agency and the police would focus more on the supply reduction side.
“We in the PDEA are committed to fighting for the future of every family as the foundation of our nation,” he said.
Frivaldo said when the agency took over the control of the drug campaign with only 40 operatives since October this year, it has seized 4,615.8 grams of shabu (crystal meth) in various buy-bust operations in Bicol with a street value of PHP23 million.
One notable operation they carried out, he said, was the arrest of two Nigerian nationals who yielded more than a kilo of shabu worth PHP6 million.
Four other drug traders in this city considered as high-value targets were arrested in another buy-bust operation and seized was PHP9 million worth of shabu.
Frivaldo said, "our operations are focused on the supply reduction as we continue to pursue and arrest major drug suppliers."
"While we are putting more pressure on reducing the drug supply, we urge various local government drug enforcers to take the necessary measures to assist in bringing down the demand for drugs," he added.
Meanwhile, Senior Inspector Maria Luisa Calubaquib, PNP Bicol spokesperson, said they are still waiting for the guidance on how to operationalize again the anti-illegal drug campaign considering that the PDEA remains the overall lead agency.”
Data from the Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC) indicated that there were 84,000 drug suspects who either surrendered or arrested in drug buy-bust operations.
Of the figure, 77,338 or 92 percent were users while 6,611 or 8 percent were pushers. (PNA) DECEMBER 2017
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