47 barangays in Midsayap declared 'drug free'

NORTH COTABATO, Philippines — The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency has declared 47 of the 57 barangays in Midsayap, where drug dealers are protected by either private armed groups or Islamic State-inspired militants, "drug free."

Naravy Duquiatan, director of PDEA-12 said Sunday the 47 barangays were officially declared cleared from drug traffickers and dependents during an inter-agency event in Midsayap last Thursday.

Midsayap is located in the first district of North Cotabato, not too distant from the 220,000-hectare Liguasan Delta, a haven of drug dealers being coddled there by the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, which operates in the fashion of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

Duquiatan said the activity on Thursday to mke the announcement was attended by Midsayap Mayor Romeo Araña, representatives from the Regional Police Office-12 and from the North Cotabato provincial government.

The 47 barangays were declared drug free based on results of an extensive inter-agency evaluation assisted by the municipal peace and order council and military units deployed in Midsayap.

More than 20 gunmen involved in large-scale drug trafficking were killed in joint police-military anti-narcotics operations from 2017 until early this year in barangays in Midsayap that are near the Liguasan Delta.

No fewer than 10 drug dealers identified with the BIFF have also been arrested during the period, many of them now detained at the provincial jail in Kidapawan City, the capital of North Cotabato.