PDEA says 8.4% of barangays in country cleared of illegal drugs

September 30, 2017

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said more than 3,500 or 8.4 percent of barangays in the country have been cleared of illegal drugs.

The agency said 3,534 of the 42,036 barangays have been cleared of the drug menace as of Aug. 31.

The result was posted last Sept. 29 in the government's #RealNumbersPH monthly update.

The barangays obtained drug-cleared status after members of the Barangay Drug-Clearing Program Oversight Committee issued a certificate.

The committee is chaired by PDEA. The members are composed of provincial representatives from the Department of the Interior and Local Government,  Philippine National Police, Department of Health and local government units.

In the same report, PDEA said a total of 3,906 drug suspects have been killed and 113,932 others arrested in 76,863 law enforcement operations nationwide.

Among those arrested are 398 government officers composed of 175 elected officials, 188 employees and 35 members of the uniformed service.

Also, the government seized P18.84 billion worth of banned narcotics, chemicals and laboratory equipment. A total of 163 drug dens and nine shabu laboratories were dismantled, the report said. DMS