PDEA chief says recent drug ops not related to Eleksyon 2022

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) on Friday said the recent successful operations resulting in big drug hauls were not related to the May 2022 national and local elections .

Interviewed on Dobol B TV, PDEA Director General Wilkins Villanueva said the operations stemmed from the joint cooperation of law enforcement agencies under the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD) established in 2019.

Villanueva said it  “cannot be and should not be” linked to the upcoming elections.

“The main difference between our operations now and before is we share intelligence at pinagtutulungan namin na trabahuhin ang isang main operations. Ito yung nangyari for the past months since last year,” he said.

“Malakihan nga [ang operations]. We cannot relate this to elections and we should not relate this to the elections. Ginagawa na natin ito ever since,” Villanueva added.

(The main difference between our operations now and before is we share intelligence. We are working together now. This has been happening  since last year. These are big-time operations. But we cannot relate this and should not relate this to the elections.)

On Tuesday, joint elements of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Task Force on Illegal Drugs and Quezon Police Provincial Office intercepted three vans containing 1.5 metric tons of shabu worth P10 billion at a checkpoint in Infanta town, Quezon province. Ten suspects were also arrested during the operations.

Villanueva said drug syndicates have reverted to their old ways and opted to transport drugs through unprotected coastal waters. He said a number of the shipments came from Mexico, Africa, and China.

“Dati kasi pinapadaan sa container, sa customs. Ngayon hindi na pumapasok sa terminals. Dumederecho na. From internatinal waters tapos susunduin ng maliit na bangka from coast natin… Didadala sa coastal areas na hindi protected,” he said.

(Before, syndicates transported drugs in containers and through customs. But that is not the case now. They are directly being shipped. From international waters, a small boat will fetch it in our coast… especially in coastal areas that are not protected.)

The war against illegal drugs has been the centerpiece of President Rodrigo Duterte, though he has admitted that he could not stop the drug problem under his term.

Villanueva acknowledged that solving the drug problem would be difficult to do but said the campaign brought great improvement to the country’s drug situation.

He then appealed to the next elected president to refrain from mixing “politics” in the fight against illegal drugs and to continue the momentum from the Duterte administration.

“I’ve been here since 2001. Dumaan ako sa apat na presidente. Dapat ang campaign natin sa drugs, walang politics. Isa lang naman ang kalaban natin eh — droga,” he said.

“Dapat kahit sinong pumasok, sinong manalo ang ang campaign laban droga dapat pantay-pantay, dapat patuloy,” he added.

(I’ve been here since 2001. I’ve gone through four presidents. Our anti-drug campaign should not be mixed with politics. We have one enemy and that is illegal drugs. Whoever will be elected should continue the campaign.) —KBK, GMA News