Operatives of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Central Visayas arrest four individuals for possession of illegal drugs at the Sibulan Port in Negros Oriental during an operation on August 19 . | photo courtesy of PDEA-7
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Central Visayas (PDEA-7) is tapping the help of the barangays as they intensify their campaign against illegal drugs in these areas.
PDEA-7 Director Wardley Getalla said that they were continuing their drug-clearing operations in the barangays and their information drive.
Getalla said that they had intensified the operations so that they could at least limit the illegal drugs entering the communities in Cebu.
He also said that based on their operations, that they could not support claims of a drug laboratory in the region because of the volume of drugs confiscated during buy-bust operations.
They could not find any proof to support such claims, said Getalla during a press briefing at the sidelines of the 17th PDEA-7 anniversary on August 27 at their office in Sudlon, Barangay Lahug, Cebu City.
Getalla, however, said that the illegal drugs in the region especially in Cebu came from outside especially from the Mindanao area.
Read more: P6.8 million worth of drugs seized from four suspects in Negros Oriental
He cited Cebu as being vulnerable to drug smuggling especially in Cebu ports.
Getalla reiterated the PDEA-7’s thrust to clear the barangays of illegal drugs.
“We are going to the grassroots level we will capacitate we will equip the barangays with all the necessary information and documents,” said Getalia.
He added that they would be the one to tap and coordinate with he Local Government Units (LGU) for the help they would need to encourage the barangay units to partner with them to achieve a drug-free environment.
Getalla also cited the joint operations of the PDEA-7 with the police in their joint buy-bust operations in the region from August 2018 to August 2019 yielding 48 kilos of suspected shabu./dbs