1,145 minors nabbed for drugs during pandemic

MANILA, Philippines — A total of 1,145 minors aged four to 17 were apprehended for alleged involvement in illegal drugs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a report last week, the Philippine National Police said data from the government’s RealNumbersPH platform showed that 813 or 71 percent of those arrested were drug pushers.

Police said 165 or 14.41 percent were nabbed for drug possession while 73 or 6.37 percent were drug users. The rest consist of runners, drug den employees, maintainers, cultivators and visitors.

A total of 4,230 minors have been apprehended for drug offenses since President Duterte assumed office in 2016.

The minors were turned over to social welfare and development offices for rehabilitation.

The same data showed that 580 drug suspects were killed in alleged shootouts with police during the pandemic.

Duterte’s war on drugs has resulted in the arrest of 331,694 suspects during 229,868 anti-narcotics operations.

Among those arrested were 398 elected officials, 525 government employees and 126 uniformed personnel.

They are among the 14,648 high-value targets who were arrested in drug stings nationwide, police said.

At least P76.01 billion worth of shabu, marijuana, cocaine and Ecstasy have been seized since 2016.

A total of 24,379 barangays have been cleared of illegal drugs.