Nearly 28,000 villages across the country have been cleared of illegal drugs under the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said on Friday.
In its latest report on the national anti-drug campaign, the PDEA said 27,968 out of 42,000 barangays in the country have been declared drug-free from July 1, 2022 to Nov. 30 this year, while 7,543 were still being cleared by the law enforcers.
These barangays have reached drug-cleared status after the issuance of a certification by members of the oversight committee on the barangay anti-drug program, it added.
The law enforces have also seized a total of P30.39 billion worth of illegal drugs nationwide during the same period.
The amount included 4,120.52 kilograms (kg.) of shabu, 48.02 kg. of cocaine, 54,012 ecstasy tablets and 3,106.24 kg. of marijuana, it added.
The latest PDEA data also showed 72,676 drug suspects were arrested during 52,966 anti-illegal drug operations.
Authorities also dismantled 811 drug dens and a clandestine shabu laboratory during the same period.