TAGBILARAN CITY -- Bohol Police hauled close to PHP1.9 million worth of shabu from 44 operations in the first four months of this year.
The arrest of an incumbent kagawad of barangay Madangog in Pangangan Island, Calape, Bohol, during a buy-bust operation on April 14, marred the opening salvo of the election period for the synchronized barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections.
The arrested official was identified as Eleuterio Gentapa Luega, a 39-year-old resident of purok San Roque, Pangangan Island in Calape.
Luega had earlier surrendered through Oplan Tokhang, but had been monitored to have continued with his illegal activities.
Luega, who yielded PHP60,000 worth of shabu during the operation, had been on the watchlist as a high-value target by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).
He was arrested together with his cohort identified as Cruzaldo Cuabo Padar, a 46-year-old tricycle driver and a resident of Santo Niño, Madangog, Calape.
Police Provincial Director Angeles Geñorga reported during the Provincial Peace and Order Council (PPOC) meeting on April 26 that police operations from January 1 to April 24 resulted in the confiscation of a total of 160.07 grams of shabu worth PHP1.89 million.
The biggest haul was recorded in February, during which, 19 police operations resulted in the confiscation of 117.92 grams of shabu worth PHP1.39 million.
For his part, PDEA-Bohol provincial chief agent Nicolas Gomez reported during the PPOC meeting that 565 of the 1,109 barangays in Bohol are still undergoing validation in order to be declared drug-cleared.
The PDEA-Bohol also reported that 345 barangays are slightly affected by drugs, 747 moderately affected, 17 drug-free or unaffected, and zero seriously affected barangays.
Gomez also reported that Bohol ranked fifth among the 81 provinces in the country in percentage of drug affectation.
The PDEA placed Bohol’s drug affectation at 98.47 percent, while Negros Oriental ranked eighth with 88.15 percent, Cebu at 14th with 83.30 percent, and Siquijor at 66th with 79.85 percent.
Of the 3,003 barangays in Central Visayas, 87.44 percent are drug affected, it reported. (Angeline Valencia/PNA)
