BY RUBY P. SILUBRICO
ILOILO City – In five months of operations against illegal drugs across Western Visayas, the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) was able to arrest 441 drug personalities.
From January to May 2014, Bacolod City yielded the most number of drug suspects at 91, followed by Negros Occidental with 71 and Iloilo province with 70.
PRO-6’s comparative data showed that from January to May 2013, 111 anti-illegal drug operations were conducted, resulting to the arrest of 154 illegal drug personalities.
This year for the same period, 291 anti-illegal drug operations were conducted.
“I congratulate the Top 3 performing police units for a job well done,” said Chief Supt. Josephus Angan, regional police director.
Still, he said, policemen must work harder and focus on “high-value” targets, not just the underlings of drug lords.
“One way of intensifying the campaign is to step up the conduct of checkpoint operations,” Angan said.
He also urged barangay councils to make use of their Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Councils (BADACs).
The illegal drugs problem is everybody’s concern, he stressed.
BADACs aim to accelerate the campaign against illegal drugs in villages and encourage the participation of local institutions.
The PRO-6 alone could not counteract drug trafficking, Angan said, without community support./PN
