By Jennifer P. Rendon
Different units of the Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO) confiscated more than P4.6 million worth of shabu in the first seven months of 2022.
Reports from the IPPO Provincial Operations and Management Unit indicated that 56 anti-illegal drug operations were conducted from January to July 2022.
These led to the confiscation of 683.408 grams of shabu with an estimated standard value of P4,647,174.
These anti-narcotics operations also resulted in the arrest of 71 drug personalities.
Colonel Adrian Acollador, Iloilo police chief, said the accomplishments in the anti-illegal drugs campaign proved the sustained and aggressive efforts of the IPPO to prevent and pre-empt the resurgence of the illegal drug trade in the province were effective.
The most recent drug buy-bust operation took place on Aug. 1, 2022 at Sitio Tuburan, Brgy. Igtambo, San Miguel, Iloilo which led to the arrest of the No. 11 High Value drug personality in the target list of Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA)-6.
“The arrests of drug personalities recently simply showed our war on illegal drugs did not stop with the end of the term of President Duterte. We stay vigilant against anyone who attempts to trade illegal drugs in the province,” Acollador said.
He also revealed that almost all drug personalities in Iloilo Province are either newly identified or those recruited by suppliers outside Region 6 in a bid to revive their operations in Iloilo province.
“We cannot allow them to put to waste the gains of our barangay drug clearing programs. We have to be on guard and stay determined to make Iloilo Province as drug-free,” he said.
Based on IPPO Police Community Affairs and Development Unit report, 1,691 of the 1,721 barangays in Iloilo province, or 98.25 percent, are certified as drug cleared.
Drug-clearing initiatives are still going on to the remaining 30 drug-affected barangays.
“This is how big the challenge for us to keep the momentum in the war on drugs is; we cannot just throw this away,” Acollador said.
