ILOILO – In a year of antidrug operations across the province, various units of the Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO) were able to confiscate shabu with a combined street value of P20 million and arrest 197 drug suspects.
The operations – a total of 149 were carried out – were from January to December 2020.
Based on IPPO records, the seized illegal drugs were 614.2 percent higher than those confiscated in the same period in 2019 and valued at only P2.8 million.
The top performing municipal police stations with the highest number of arrested persons in 2020 were the following:
* Pavia – P12 million worth of illegal drugs seized and 54 drug suspects arrested
* Estancia – P13 million worth of illegal drugs seized and 16 drug suspects arrested
* Santa Barbara – P3.7 million worth of illegal drugs seized and 15 drug suspects arrested
According to Police Colonel Gilbert Gorero, IPPO director, most of the arrested drug suspects were operating individually.
“They are in a hurry to dispose the prohibited substance that’s why our men seized huge volumes of illegal drugs,” Gorero explained.
He lauded civilian agents and even the ordinary people for providing vital information which led to successful antidrug operations.
“Our war against illegal drugs continues. We will not allow drug peddlers to put to waste the milestones in our efforts to make Iloilo province drug-free,” Gorero said./PN
