356 drug suspects slain in lockdown

MANILA, Philippines — A total of 356 drug suspects were killed in alleged shootouts with lawmen and 426 minors allegedly involved in illegal drugs were caught during the community quarantine.

Citing the data from the government’s Real NumberPH platform, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said 37,984 drug pushers and users were arrested since March last year when lockdown measures were imposed to halt the spread of COVID-19.

A total of 426 minors aged four to 17 with suspected links to the illegal drug trade were caught. Of the number, 288 were pushers while 28 were users.

The rest were either possessors, runners, cultivators and visitors and workers of drug dens. They were turned over to social welfare and development officers for rehabilitation

At least 6,011 drug suspects were killed and 273,014 arrested in 183,603 operations since President Duterte launched a crackdown on illegal drugs in 2016.

Among those arrested are 368 elected government officials, 449 government employees and 103 uniformed personnel. They were among the 10,959 high-value targets apprehended by lawmen.

At least 11,775.56 kilos of methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu, cocaine and marijuana and 85,325 ecstasy tablets worth P57.3 billion were confiscated across the country.

A total of 20.946 barangays have been cleared of illegal drugs, the PDEA said.

Anti-narcotics police officers will start using body cameras during operations starting next month.

The Philippine National Police has distributed 2,686 body cameras in 269 police sites in the country.