By Jennifer P. Rendon
Different police units in Western Visayas seized more than P55 million worth of illegal drugs in the first four months of 2021.
Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) records showed that 662 police anti-illegal drug operations were conducted from January to April 2021, leading to the confiscation of shabu and marijuana valued at P55,073,404.56.
The seizure is P11 million more than the items confiscated in the same period in 2020.
The number of drug operations also increased by 112 and so were the number of arrested drug personalities.
Brigadier General Rolando Miranda, Western Visayas police chief, said the bulk of these anti-narcotics operations were conducted in Negros Occidental with 280 and Bacolod City with 219 operations.
Iloilo province conducted 56 operations, Iloilo City with 52, Capiz with 32; Aklan with 15; and Guimaras province had 6 operations while Antique mounted 3 operations.
Police also nabbed 841 suspected drug peddlers in the same period.
Negros Occidental accounted for 357; Bacolod City with 284; Iloilo province with 66; Iloilo City with 63; Capiz with 47; Aklan with 5; Guimaras with 6; and Antique with 3.
Confiscated shabu totaled 7752.367 grams with Negros Occidental accounting for almost half of the recoveries at 3071.659 grams while Bacolod City seized 2214.259 grams.
Iloilo province confiscated the largest volume of marijuana at 1,402.3 grams while Negros Occidental had 1,221 grams.
With the country bracing for the “new normal,” PRO-6 said illegal drug operations also went through some changes in terms of mode or strategies of illegal drug traders and pushers in marketing their products.
Miranda said the peddlers have been exploiting technology and social media to their advantage.
But the region’s top cop assured that PRO-6 remains steadfast in eradicating illegal drugs in the region by formulating interventions to cope with the current trend in illegal drug trade.
“We will continue to strengthen our efforts against illegal drug trade in the region until such time that all of the identified drug personalities will be put behind bars,” Miranda said.
