MALASIQUI, Pangasinan – The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) on Friday reported that 1,073 out of 1,272 drug-affected barangays in this province have been cleared as of May 27.
“The supply of illegal drugs in the province was reduced greatly as compared to the time before the assumption of President Rodrigo Duterte,” PDEA-Pangasinan officer Rechie Camacho said in a telephone interview.
Camacho said they remain focused on barangay drug-clearing operations aside from the anti-illegal drugs operations.
He also reported the seizure of PHP2.2 million worth of suspected shabu and marijuana in their operations from January 1 to May 27.
Camacho said they have conducted seven anti-illegal drug operations with the seizure of more or less 250 grams of suspected shabu and marijuana and have arrested 10 high-value personalities during the period.
“The confiscated shabu was worth PHP1.7 million and the marijuana was worth PHP480,000,” he said.
Among the high-profile targets PDEA had busted was an improvised marijuana cultivation area in Mangaldan town, which yielded PHP480,000 worth of suspected high-grade marijuana blocks, oil, fruiting tops, and seedlings in a high-impact operation in February this year.
The suspect, Jhasper Base Dalan, of legal age, is from Bulacan but was renting a house in Barangay Anolid where he operated his illegal business that fronted as a mushroom farm.
Authorities discovered that the suspect was also growing marijuana seedlings and was making marijuana oil.
“He was selling mushroom fruiting bags but inside it was the kush marijuana stuck inside. This is the first time we have encountered this kind of modus,” Camacho added. (PNA)