GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews / 24 June) – The Police Regional Office (PRO) 12 has committed to improve its accomplishments this year in terms of its campaign against the proliferation of illegal drugs.
Chief Supt. Lester Camba, Region 12 police director, said he has directed all police units in the region to intensify their operations against all forms of illegal drugs as well as make more quality arrests and recoveries.
He said such move is in response to the directive issued to the PRO-12 by Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel Roxas II during the 1st Regional Anti-Illegal Drug Summit held in Koronadal City last week.
“We have to double our efforts because it’s already the DILG Secretary who gave the order,” the police official said.
A report released by the PRO-12 showed that police units in the region have launched a total of 327 anti-drug operations from January 1 to May 31 this year.
These operations led to the arrest of 457 drug personalities or suspects and the confiscation of some P23.2 million worth of illegal drugs, mostly methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu.
Camba said their units have so far doubled their accomplishments when compared to 2013 and 2014.
“We hope that this year, we will not only double but even triple our accomplishments through the help of our stakeholders here in the region,” he said.
Camba said there is a need for all sectors in the region, especially the local government units, to unite in the fight against illegal drugs to effectively contain it.
He said their assessment showed that a number of crimes that happened in the region were related to illegal drugs and related activities.
“So if we can contain or even just lessen the proliferation of these illegal drugs, the result would be lesser crime incidents especially for those involving drug personalities,” he said.
Along with the intensified anti-drug campaign, Camba said they are continually cleaning up their ranks of users and those involved in the illegal drug trade.
In the last two years, he said they already found 10 police personnel who were involved in the drug trade.
The official said six of them were already dismissed from service, two are under investigation, one is being monitored and another went on absence without official leave or AWOL.
“We will not have the moral ascendancy to make arrests if we policemen are involved in illegal drug activities. So we really need to clean up our own backyard as well,” he added.
