PDEA: 1,121 high-value targets arrested from January-July 2020

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) on Tuesday said it has arrested over a thousand high-value targets in the country during the first seven months of 2020, its director general, Wilkins Villanueva, said.

During the Senate hearing on the P2.7-billion proposed budget of PDEA for 2021, Villanueva said the breakdown of these nabbed high-value targets is as follows:

Elected officials - 33
Uniformed personnel - 11
Government employee - 54
Foreign nationals - 57
Drug group leaders/members - 16
Armed group members - 1
Celebrity/prominent personality - 1
Wanted-listed - 29
Target-listed - 364
Drug den maintainers - 108
Arrest from high-impact operations - 447

The PDEA has conducted more than 18,000 anti-drug operations from January to July 2020 and was able to arrest more than 26,000 drug personalities, according to the PDEA chief.

Villanueva also said that the number of the drug-cleared barangays in the Philippines was at 19,876 as of July 31, 2020.

On the other hand, 14,491 or 34.47% of the 42,045 barangays nationwide are still drug-affected — a figure that is lower compared to the over 24,000 drug-affected barangays in 2017.

Of these barangays with illegal drug problem, Villanueva said 5,513 are "slightly affected," meaning there are only drug users in the area.

"Moderately affected" barangays, where at least one pusher is present, number to 8,746.

The "seriously affected" ones, meanwhile, are 232 in total. These are areas where drug dens and warehouses are located.

Over 7,000 other barangays in the Philippines are unaffected by illegal drugs.

Villanueva said he believes that further barangay drug clearing is "doable" and that PDEA, under his administration, would continue to fully implement the barangay drug clearing program.

"Parati nating sinasabi, kahit saan man ang droga manggaling, sigurado sir, pag ang barangay is not cleared, sigurado sa barangay ito magla-landing," he said.  —KBK, GMA News