The Regional Peace and Order Council in Central Visayas has declared a “total all-out” war against illegal drugs. 

Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-7 regional director, Randy Pedroso, in his report at the recent RPOC-7 meeting said that of the 3,003 barangays in Central Visayas, 671 have been affected by the drug problem.

Of the 291 drug-affected barangays in Cebu, only five have been cleared. Bohol has 256 drug affected barangays and 80 of them have already been cleared.

Negros Oriental has 111 drug-affected barangays, only nine have been cleared so far, while in Siquijor, with 13 drug-affected barangays, only two have been cleared of the drug menace.

The report stated that shabu, with a street price of P7,500 to P8,000 per gram, remains the top drug choice among users and pushers.

From January to June this year, law enforcers had seized a total of 383.58 grams of shabu and some 676 pieces of assorted drug paraphernalia.

The PDEA-7 also said that it has also confiscated more than 1,219 grams of marijuana dried leaves; uprooted and burned 40,855 marijuana plants in the hinterlands of Balamban; and seized other illegal drugs such as rugby, marijuana sticks, cigarets and bricks with an estimated cost of more than P9.3 million.

Pedroso said the joint operations and the deputization of all uniformed men as drug enforcers resulted in the arrests of 421 pushers, possessors, traffickers, couriers and users for the first semester this year.

He added that they had conducted 299 drug-related operations that included buy-bust and entrapment; search warrants; marijuana eradication and search and seizures.*RG

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