INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga—The Central Luzon police lost 18 men since 2016, when the Duterte administration started its war against illegal drugs under its “Double Barrel” campaign, the Police Regional Office 3 (PRO3) based at Camp Olivas in this city disclosed on Thursday, June 23.
PRO3 director Brigadier General Matthew Baccay said 45 policemen were also wounded while conducting buy-bust or hot pursuit operations against suspected drug peddlers.
“It pains us to know that some of our members were harmed and even killed in line with our diligent efforts to stop the proliferation of illegal drugs. But the primary duty of men and women in uniform across the region and the country is to keep our communities safe, secure, and drug-free, even if we put ourselves in peril,” Baccay said in a statement.
The regional police said 2,423 alleged drug personalities were killed while 62,516 others arrested in anti-illegal drug operations in the seven provinces and two highly urbanized cities of Central Luzon since 2016.
It said police in the region seized 820.8 kilos of “shabu” (crystal meth) and 1,193.2 kilos of marijuana since the launch of the double-barrel campaign.
“We are committed [to waging a war] against illegal drugs and will continue to be relentless in our campaign at all costs,” Baccay said. INQ
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