A total of 280 government personnel have been arrested so far by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in line with President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration intensified campaign against illegal drugs.
PDEA Director General Isidro Lapeña told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) that these government personnel involved in illegal drugs were arrested from July 1, 2016 to May 30, 2017 for violating Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
Of the 280, 119 are elected officials; 138 are government employees; and 23 are law enforcers.
The elected officials, he said, were mostly barangay executives while most of the erring law enforcers were from the Philippine National Police (PNP).
In its weekly update, joint law enforcement agencies also reported the conduct of 60,395 anti-drug operations from July 1, 2016 to May 30, 2017 that resulted in the arrest of 80,415 suspects.
As of May 30, 2017, their consolidated report showed that 3,050 drug suspects have died in police operations and a total of 2,288.96 kilos of methamphetamine hydrochloride, also known as ‘shabu,’ with an estimated value of P11.79 billion, were seized.
From July 2016 to May 2017, a total of 47 barangay chiefs and 70 barangay kagawads have been arrested due to involvement in illegal drugs.
Meanwhile, the PNP Internal Affairs Service said 158 police officers found positive of using illegal drugs were dismissed from the service while 207 other cases are still being investigated.
Latest figures also showed that as of May 30, 2017, the total homicide cases are 12,426 wherein 2,091 are drug related, 2,447 are non-drug related and 7,888 are still under investigation. (PNA)
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