LINGAYEN, Pangasinan -- The Pangasinan Police Provincial Office (PPPO) confiscated 852.92 grams of shabu and 1,137.76 grams of dried marijuana amounting to PHP5.94 million from Jan. 1 to Nov. 30 this year.
In an interview Monday, Maj. Exzur Relatado, acting chief of PPPO’s provincial operations and plans branch, said they conducted 953 positive operations during the 11-month period, which resulted in the arrest of some 989 pushers and users.
PPPO also sequestered 49 firearms and ammunitions during buy bust operations, he said.
Relatado said of the 48 towns and cities in the province, 26 have been declared as drug-free by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) as of Oct. 31, while Sto. Tomas town is never drug-affected.
“Basista and San Nicolas towns are waiting for declaration as drug-cleared while 12 are waiting for approval of the regional sub-committee. San Quintin and Dagupan City are already endorsed to PDEA and waiting for the provincial sub-committee upon validation of the submitted requirements,” he said in a separate interview.
Meanwhile, some 17,485 out of the 20,471 drug surrenderers in the province graduated from the recovery and wellness program of the PPPO and the local government units (LGUs) as of Nov. 11 this year, Relatado said.
Of the total number, he said, 15,892 graduated from the LGU-initiated recovery and wellness program while the 1,593 graduated from the PPPO-initiated program.
Some 246 drug surrenderers in the province have undergone rehabilitation, with 242 of them finishing the rehab program while four are still underway, he added. (PNA)
