PDEA: 10,721 high value targets nabbed in Duterte’s drug war

A total of 10,721 high value targets have been arrested since the Duterte administration's war against illegal drugs started in 2016, government data showed on Tuesday.

According to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, the arrested high value targets include 287 foreigners, 362 elected officials, 102 uniformed personnel, 445 government employees, 3,098 target listed, 751 drug group leaders and members, 66 armed group members, 1,035 drug den maintainers, 232 wanted listed, 18 celebrities, and 4,325 arrests from high impact operations.

In the 183,525 anti-illegal drugs operations conducted since July 1, 2016, the total number of drug suspects nabbed was 266,126, according to PDEA.

The anti-drugs agency noted that 5,942 suspected drug personalities were killed, which was lower compared to the claim of local and international human rights groups that more or less 27,000 individuals were slain under the government's bloody campaign.

Critics of the government said the number of fatalities could be higher, even as authorities maintained that those killed engaged law enforcers in shootouts. 

The PDEA said a total of 20,538 barangays were already cleared from narcotics while 14,308 others are yet to be cleared. It added that a total of 648 dens and clandestine laboratories have been dismantled.

Meanwhile, the total value of shabu seized during operations was P46.42 billion.

President Rodrigo Duterte's anti-narcotics campaign has been highly criticized as it is being linked by critics to the alleged "extrajudicial killings" (EJKs) or state-sponsored deaths in the country.

Rights watchdog Human Rights Watch earlier claimed that the drug war killings had increased amid the threat of COVID-19 pandemic. — RSJ, GMA News