Bicol anti-drug drive: P7.7M ‘shabu’ seized, 12 arrested in February

LEGAZPI CITY — Bicol police confiscated at least P7.7 million worth of “shabu” or crystal meth, and arrested 12 alleged drug pushers in separate anti-illegal drugs operations in February, a top official of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in the region said on Monday.

High-value target (HVT) illegal drug pushers were arrested during separate drug buy-bust operations in the month of February, a top official of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in Bicol said.

PDEA Bicol regional director Christian Frivaldo said in an interview that the arrest of the 12 suspects, allegedly included in the “high-value targets” (HVT) watchlist, and confiscation of about 1.2 kilograms of shabu valued at least P7.7 million was a result of an intensified campaign carried out by the agency in Region 5.

According to Frivaldo, the suspects were captured during anti-narcotics operations in the provinces of Sorsogon, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, and Albay.

In a bid to accelerate the anti-drug campaign in Bicol, Frivaldo said PDEA has created in every province an anti-illegal drug oversight committee in collaboration with the Philippine National Police (PNP).

The committee, he noted, regularly checks illegal drug operations in the region specifically the status of narcotics supply and demand reduction campaign.

Frivaldo said there was no reported killing of drug users and pushers since PDEA took over the operations of the anti-drug campaign in Bicol.

Frivaldo also said that the anti-illegal drug oversight committee plans to clear at least five villages per province in Bicol every month.

He even disclosed that at least six villages in Camarines Norte might soon be “cleared” from illegal drugs pending the submission of required documents that would be approved by the committee.

“We have forecast of at least five villages per province to be cleared every month depending on the provincial and local government recommendations,” Frivaldo said.

According to Frivaldo, declaring a village “cleared” from illegal drugs involves the submission of documents, which would be validated via a set of criteria. After validation the documents will then be submitted to the regional oversight committee for approval.

“We cascaded some functions of validations to the provincial committee so they can engage the barangays directly but in cases where irregularities are discovered by the regional committee, this would automatically be grounds for the suspension or revocation of the clearance,” Frivaldo said.   /kga