ILOILO City – The Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO) confiscated P106 million worth of shabu and arrested 373 suspects in nine months of anti-drug operations across the province.
From January to September this year, various police stations carried out a total of 274 operations, resulting in the seizure of 15 kilos of shabu.
The arrested suspects, meanwhile, included 111 high-value targets and 263 street-level individuals.
The IPPO’s Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit (PDEU) scored the biggest haul with P36.1 million worth of shabu, followed by the Estancia Municipal Police Station (MPS) (P10.1 million), and the Balasan MPS (P10 million).
The Dingle and Pototan police stations also seized P6 million and P5.4 million worth of illegal drugs, respectively.
IPPO director Colonel Bayani Razalan said the largest seizures were made in northern Iloilo, particularly in Estancia and Balasan towns, because of the presence of local ports.
Meanwhile, in the campaign against wanted persons, 736 were arrested – 19 at the regional, 56 at the provincial, and 126 at the municipal levels – from 732 operations.
The IPPO also recorded 481 surrendered, deposited, and abandoned firearms.
Despite these accomplishments, Razalan urged his men to further strengthen their barangay intelligence network to get more information about the presence of drug suspects and fugitives.
“I really appreciate the efforts of our police chiefs and their personnel. We have to continue running after drug personalities and fugitives who continue to hide through the help of the community,” the IPPO director added./PN
