PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte urged the military and police to redouble the war against drugs as drug enforcers reported having seized P18.27 billion worth of narcotics precursor chemicals last year, a 238.2 percent increase over 2015.
AFP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla said Duterte issued the order to ranking officials of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and Philippine National Police during the New Year Joint AFP-PNP Command Conference held at the Heroes Hall of Malacañang Palace Friday.
“During the command conference, the Commander-in-Chief was provided a security update of the current national security situation by the AFP and an update on current law enforcement operations by the PNP,” Padilla said.
At the same time, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency said law enforcement agencies seized P18.27 billion worth of illegal drugs and precursor chemicals in 2016—a 238.2 percent increase over 2015—and arrested 219 government personnel.
PDEA director general Isidro Lapeña also said 112 foreigners were arrested last year for involvement in the narcotics trade, 79 of them in the first six months of the Duterte administration.
The agency said 88 of the government personnel arrested last year were elected officials—two municipal councilors and the rest barangay chairmen or council members—95 were government employees, and the remaining 36 were law enforcers, with the highest ranked a lieutenant colonel.
Of these, 135 were arrested in the latter half of the year, a 60.7 percent increase over the 84 arrested in the first semester of 2016.
This was the highest number of government personnel arrested for involvement in drugs in a single year and a nine percent increase over the 201 nabbed in 2015, said Lapeña, who also noted that “the numbers have increased significantly each succeeding year.”
Since 2010, the PDEA said, 842 government personnel—274 elected officials, 373 government employees, and 195 law enforcers—have been arrested.
The PDEA said a total of 2,495 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine or shabu, with an estimated street value of P12.8 billion, was seized last year in operations that also netted 1,904 so-called “high-value targeted drug personalities.”
The seized shabu was four times that in 2015 and more than the combined 2,264 kilos seized from 2012 to 2015.
Anti-drug operations also led to the eradication of 337 marijuana plantations and the destruction of over P5 billion worth of plants and seedlings, an 18 percent increase over the 286 sites targeted in 2015. A total of 1,105.76 kilos of dried marijuana leaves were also seized last year, a 159 percent jump over 2015’s 427.43 kilos.
Seizures of ecstasy tablets and cocaine also registered increases of 649 and 575.6 percent, respectively.
Of the foreigners arrested last year, 53 were Chinese, including seven from Hong Kong, 29 were Taiwanese, and seven were Koreans, and 79 were captured in the latter half of the year.
This brought the total of foreigners arrested for drugs since 2010 to 473.
