Drug war’s next focus: All villages

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) will bring the controversial war on drugs to the country’s more than 42,000 barangays in a bid to curb user demand.

PDEA director general Isidro Lapeña said his agency would shift its focus to the country’s smallest administrative unit to reduce the number of drug users.

“We have shifted our strategy to the barangay drug-clearing program because this is where the drug problem thrives. This is where the trade happens,” Lapeña said in Davao City.

“This affects the people at the grassroots. This is the one that matters actually and so we shifted our efforts [to] the barangay drug clearing program,” Lapeña said.

He estimated there are about four million drug users in the country and this large market will always interest drug traffickers.

“These four million users translate to a P120-billion drug industry,” Lapeña said.

“If that is not reduced, then the P120-billion drug industry will always be something that … drug syndicates will always get into it,” he said.

He said the PDEA had a productive year with P82.52 billion worth of drugs seized and 152 drug dens dismantled in the course of 64,397 operations.

He also said a total of 3,171 drug personalities were killed in legitimate police operations that also resulted in the killing of 57 policemen.