CAMP SK PENDATUN, Maguindanao -- Police authorities in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) killed three large-scale drug traffickers and arrested 217 others in a series of police-led anti-drug operations in the region during the past five months.
Chief Supt. Graciano Mijares, regional director for police in ARMM, said about 154 drug dependents in the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi have also voluntarily surrendered during the implementation of the new Oplan Tokhang.
“Those who were killed have resisted arrest during anti-drug operations. There was no single extrajudicial killing reported,” Mijares said.
From October last year to March 1, the ARMM police conducted 130 anti-drug operations in the region.
Mijares appealed to those who remain involved in illegal drug activities to peacefully surrender because the police will not hesitate to enforce the law anytime and anywhere.
The government offers a rehabilitation program for drug dependents who want to reform and abandon their illegal activities.
“The drug personalities should take advantage of the rehab program,” Mijares said, adding that every town in the region has police teams that go around to educate the citizens, especially teenagers, about the ill-effects of illegal drug use. (PNA)
