PDEA hopes to round up 12,000 high-value targets by 2022

Three years of the administration's crackdown against illegal drugs resulted in the arrest of 8,000 high-value targets but over 12,000 are still roaming free in the country, according to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) on Friday.

PDEA Director General Aaron Aquino said they hope to put these big-time drug suspects behind bars before President Rodrigo Duterte's term ends in 2022.

"Hopefully, matapos po natin 'yan, although mahirap sa case build-up pa lang at pag-conduct ng operations ng high-value target natin ay medyo may kahirapan na, pero magagawan po namin ng paraan together with other law enforcement agencies," Aquino said in an interview on Dobol B sa News TV.

He added that surveillance operations and validation will be beefed up.

The highest rank among uniformed personnel who are allegedly involved in the drug trade is police major, Aquino bared.

Among politicians, on the other hand, those supposedly tainted with drug involvement are holding as high as congressional seats. Most are barangay leaders, he added.

Some celebrities and media personalities are also on the list, according to Aquino. He, however, clarified that he doesn't have full access to the list of the 12,000 because certain information are only disclosed on a need basis.

"Ako nga mismo, ako ang chairman ng ICAD (Inter-agency Committee on Anti-illegal Drugs), wala po akong listahan niyan, 'yung mga nasa intelligence units lang natin at people on the ground na nag-ooperate po niyan ang may listahan na 'yan," he said.

He recalled that there was one time that he had the chance to present the list to his former ICAD co-chair, Vice President Leni Robredo, but the latter refused to have a look into it pending her request for clarification from the President on her "scope of authority" in the inter-agency body.

Robredo had earlier announced that she turned down having access to some classified information during her short stint in ICAD.

There are 186 local drug groups operating in the country, according to Aquino on Thursday. —Dona Magsino/KBK, GMA News