PDEA gives out P4.6-M rewards
The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) marked its 15th anniversary on Wednesday by giving cash rewards totaling P4,620,609 to three informants responsible for the dismantling of a “shabu” laboratory and the arrest of six drug suspects, including two Chinese nationals.
Two of the informants received P2 million each while another was rewarded P620,609 under the PDEA’s Operation Private Eye, an incentive scheme to motivate private citizens to report illegal drug activities in their neighborhoods.
During the anniversary rites at the PDEA headquarters in Quezon City, PDEA Director General Isidro Lapeña also credited the agency’s personnel and officials for their successful antinarcotics campaign.
The three informants, identified only as “Jun,” “Hasmin,” and “Kagawad,” wore ski masks during the awarding ceremonies led by the PDEA chief.
Jun, who was given P2 million, tipped off the PDEA special enforcement service and the PNP Anti-Illegal Drugs Group special operations unit in Central Luzon about the activities of a Bulacan-based narcotics syndicate which resulted in the confiscation of some 58 kilograms of shabu, and the arrest of four suspects in Sta. Maria town on May 15 last year.
Hasmin got a P2-million reward for providing information to the PDEA’s Metro Manila-based office, which resulted in the seizure of some P100-million worth of shabu and the arrest of a Chinese national in an Aug. 5, 2016 raid at a warehouse in Hensonville, Malabañas, Angeles City.
Kagawad was given P620,609 cash after providing the PDEA National Capital Region office information leading to the confiscation of 7,483.8 grams of shabu and the arrest of a Chinese national in a July 5, 2016 antidrug operation in Executive Villagers Society, Phase 5 in Parañaque City.
PDEA public information office chief Derrick Arnold Carreon explained that while the two informants were given rewards in round figures, Kagawad’s cash reward was based on the quantity and quality of the shabu.
He said cash rewards were usually computed based on the type of illegal drug seized, the amount and its purity. Information leading to the discovery and dismantling of shabu laboratories carry a higher reward.
In his speech, Lapeña cited the accomplishments of the PDEA personnel and other law enforcement agencies in the war on drugs from July 1, 2016 to May 15 this year.
According to Lapeña, 57,892 antidrug operations resulted in the arrest of 73,125 drug suspects, the seizure of P14.5-billion worth of dangerous drugs, the dismantling of eight shabu laboratories and 139 drug dens, as well as the filing of over 35,000 drug cases.
Lapeña described as a “phenomenon” the voluntary surrender of drug users, saying it was a first anywhere in the world.
He said this translated to an “instant disruption of the illegal drug distribution channel and a 26.45-percent reduction of the estimated total drug market of 4.7 million drug users in the country.”
