MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police has confiscated P11-billion worth of illegal drugs from January to June this year, which covers over three months of the implementation of community quarantine in the country to curtail the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019.
PNP chief Gen. Archie Gamboa said Monday that the illegal drugs, in the form of crystal meth or “shabu” and marijuana products, were seized by police anti-drug units in a total of 25,612 operations across the country, which were coordinated with the regional units of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.
A total of 38,178 high-value targets, alleged drug peddlers and users were arrested during the period.
He said the confiscated illegal drugs weigh 1,571.33 kilograms.
“That’s 1.57 metric tons of crystal meth or shabu, and 2,907 kilograms or 2.9 metric tons of marijuana—all with an estimated value of P11.03 billion,” Gamboa said in a press briefing.
The PNP has yet to release information on the volume of prohibited drugs confiscated during the same period last year.
To recall, Gamboa earlier instructed PNP commanders to initiate operations against high-value targets belonging to the top 10 most wanted drug personalities in their jurisdictions, as the coronavirus crisis continues to trigger the implementation of community quarantine in the country.
As of January 2020, over 5,600 drug suspects have died and 228,678 others were arrested in 157,275 anti-drug operations conducted nationwide since the Duterte administration’s so-called drug war was launched in 2016. Human rights groups, however, peg the death toll in the controversial anti-drug campaign to three times higher than government data.