Almost P50B worth of illegal drugs seized under Marcos admin —PDEA

Authorities have seized P49.82 billion worth of illegal drugs so far under the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. from July 1, 2022 to September 30, 2024, according to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).

The illegal drugs that have been seized include shabu (6,481.16 kilograms); cocaine (75.69 kg); ecstasy (115.081 pieces); and marijuana (5,626.80 kg).

Authorities also arrested 7,364 high-value targets.

“We would like to think there is a steady increase in total volume and value of drugs confiscated,”  Derrick Carreon, chief of the PDEA public information office, said in a public briefing.

“With regard to the barangay clearing program effort, definitely, malaki yung improvement natin (we have a big improvement),” he added.

According to Carreon, there are 29,211 barangays nationwide that are cleared of illegal drugs while there are still 6,292 drug-affected barangays.

He said the “severely” drug-affected barangays are in Metro Manila, Calabrazon, Central Luzon and some areas in Mindanao.

“Ibig sabihin po nito, yung sinumulan natin back then na napakaraming drug-affected barangays ay tuloy-tuloy pa rin yung pagbaba so this is a good indicator to determine the success of the national anti-drug campaign,” Carreon said.

(It means that what we started back then with so many drug-affected barangays is still decreasing so this is a good indicator to determine the success of the national anti-drug campaign. —Mariel Celine Serquiña/LDF, GMA Integrated News