Cebu City, Philippines – The Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) said it has arrested more drug users than pushers in 2018.
In a press conference on Wednesday, January 2, 2019, CCPO director Senior Superintendent Royina Garma revealed that they have arrested a total of 3,953 drug suspects in the past year. Of the total, 75 percent, or around 2,900, were drug users, while the remaining 25 percent (around 980) were drug pushers.
“We were able to launch a total of 564 operations for 2018. Most of them are during patrols, wherein suspects are caught in the act of possession or using illegal drugs. Second is the series of buy-bust operations,” added Garma.
CCPO also hauled a total of 39.4482 kilograms of shabu, which is worth P389,325,586 million, from anti-drug operations conducted by all 12 police stations of the city.
Aside from anti-illegal drugs operations, the CCPO chief also said they are planning to intensify operations against illegal possession of firearms, especially since the May 2019 midterm elections is drawing near.
“Definitely, we will be launching more operations not only for anti-illegal drugs but also for illegal possession of firearms. This is in preparation for the upcoming elections,” Garma said. BJO