PNP Drug Enforcement Group: Unparalleled Achievement
A whopping Php8 Billion-worth of illegal drugs was recovered through the unrelenting anti-illegal drugs campaign of the Philippine National Police, PNP’s operating arm – the Drug Enforcement Group (PDEG) reported as of the last quarter of year 2022.
PDEG tallied 139 successful conducted operations, to which about 138 drug personalities were incarcerated, and five firearms were retrieved from their possession. Furthermore, the recovered illegal drugs are broken down to 1,090,427.48 grams of methamphetamine, commonly known as shabu; 160,010 grams of dried marijuana; 311,000 pieces of marijuana plants; and 5 grams of kush.
One of the noteworthy events engraved a historic record in the PNP’s illegal drug operation under the tutelage of Police Brigadier General Narciso D. Domingo, where a staggering 990 kilos of shabu with an estimated street value of PHP6.7 billion had been confiscated on October 8, 2022.
After the necessary laboratory examination and technical inventory in accordance with PDEA (Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency) and DDB (Dangerous Drugs Board) standard procedures, PNP Chief Police General Rodolfo Azurin Jr. told reporters at a press briefing, together with Interior and Local Government Secretary Benjamin “Benhur” Santos Abalos, Jr. in Camp BGen Rafael T. Crame, that the government would seek the court’s permission for the immediate destruction of the 990.1 kilograms of shabu that had been confiscated.
PDEG conducted an operation that resulted in the seizure of nearly a ton of shabu and the arrest of two individuals, one of which was a police officer.
In the fight against drugs, this is law enforcement’s greatest victory to date. In addition, the “traditional, by the book” police action resulted to zero casualty.
More crucial than the quantity of drugs seized, according to Azurin, is the fact that “millions of dosage units of dangerous compounds in this shabu cocktail” have been removed from circulation and, thus prevented ruining the lives of otherwise promising young Filipinos.
Police Master Sergeant Rodolfo Mayo Jr., of PDEG, was the police officer who was taken into custody. There will be cases pending against him in the bureaucracy, which could result to his discharge.
Following the arrest of a man named Ney Atadero in Tondo, Manila on October 8, Mayo was taken into custody in a follow-up operation.
Azurin said in a second statement that the arrest “speaks of the in-depth probe that PNP has been engaged in for every police operation.” He [Azurin] promised that justice will result from said investigation, and the suspect shall be given his day in court and be charged administratively and criminally, as necessary.
The PNP Chief also said that PNP is taking an adamant stance against the origins of this illicit trade in order to break up or interrupt the chain of distribution of potentially deadly drugs. Meanwhile, he further appended that the agency shall pursue the demand reduction strategy with renewed vigor by promoting drug abuse awareness, prevention, and resistance education, including DILG’s (Department of the Interior and Local Government) BIDA (Buhay Ingatan, Droga’y Ayawan) program among the most at-risk segments of society.
When it is as large as this grand operation, it takes a lot of effort to keep a plan like this, and it is important for the government’s various departments to work in perfect harmony with one another.
Notable successes in the fight against illegal narcotics by PNP include the seizure of Php20 Million worth of shabu in Taguig City on December 14, 2022, under the leadership of Southern Police District, District Director PBGen Kirby John B. Kraft.
