GENERAL SANTOS CITY -- The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) 12 (Soccsksargen) has seized more than PHP23 million worth of illegal drugs in various operations since January.
Kath Abad, chief of PDEA-12’s preventive education and community involvement section, said Friday such accomplishment was the result of 945 operations conducted in parts of the region from January to November this year.
Abad said their agents recovered some 2,344.46 grams of shabu worth about PHP15.9 million based on the Dangerous Drugs Board value of PHP6,800 per gram.
In October, PDEA-12, Army and police personnel uprooted some 38,500 marijuana plants worth about PHP7.7 million in upland plantations in the boundaries of the provinces of South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, and Davao del Sur.
Abad said these operations resulted in the arrest of 1,051 suspects, who are the subject of 1,676 cases filed in various courts in the region.
Since May 2018, she said, 981 drug-related cases have been decided by local courts, resulting in the conviction of the accused personalities.
Abad said 429 of the resolved cases were filed in this city, 205 in North Cotabato, 139 in South Cotabato, 123 in Sarangani, and 85 in Sultan Kudarat.
She said the favorable court decisions on the filed drug cases showed the success of the continuing intensified campaign against illegal drugs in the region.
“The numerous convictions, along with our accomplishments, show that we are continually gaining ground in the war against illegal drugs,” Abad said in an interview.
She noted that they have been improving their systems to ensure that no drug case would be dismissed by the courts or at the prosecution level.
“These are the main reasons for the favorable court decisions and we expect the same results for the other pending cases,” she added. (PNA)
