MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Thursday reported that it has seized over P2 billion worth of illegal drugs during several operations from January to June this year.
An accomplishment report of the PNP Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force (AIDSOTF) showed that the drugs were confiscated during 10 operations, seven of which were buy-bust operations.
The report also showed that a total of 23 drug offenders were arrested, 10 of whom were foreigners.
Of the seized illegal drugs, a total of 478,994 grams were methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu while around 1,000 grams were cocaine.
AIDSOTF head Senior Supt. Bartolome Tobias admitted that the PNP has no concrete basis the extent of the problem of illegal drugs in the country.
"Sa ngayon wala tayong concrete na basehan talaga on how or what is the extent ng drug problem compared doon sa mga previous years but rest assured na kung ano man yung existing drug situation we pursueaggressively yung negation and yung overall campaign against illegaldrugs," Tobias told reporters.
And with the recent statement of an official of the the United States anti-narcotics agency regarding the Philippines being " a victim of geography," Tobias said law enforcement agencies especially the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) are ready to address the problem.
"According kay director general PDEA, geographically potential na lilipat but with the existing set up maganda yung cooperation collaboration between agencies we can address the problem.
"Sabi pa nya inemphasize nya na it is because the geographical location na magiging alternate yung Philippines but it is not because of incompetence ng mga agencies na nag address ng problems," Tobias added.