More than P230M worth of drugs seized in Bacolod in two years

By: Jennifer P. Rendon

The value of illegal drugs seized by Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) is double that of items confiscated in other parts of Western Visayas, data from the Police Regional Office (PRO)-6 indicated.

From Dec. 5, 2017, the start of the PNP’s Oplan Double Barrel Reloaded campaign, to Nov. 4, 2019, the BCPO recovered more or less P239,651,166 worth of illegal drugs, based on estimates set by the Dangerous Drugs Board or DDB.

For the same period, Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) posted the second highest value of seized illegal drugs at P133.946 million while Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (NOPPO) confiscated P77.282 million worth of banned substances.

Guimaras, which has the smallest land area in the region, ranked fourth at P13.275 million, Antique with P11 million and Iloilo province with P2.936 million.

Aklan posted P274,152 and Capiz with P238,887.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Joem Malong, PRO-6 spokesperson, said while Bacolod City appeared to be the source of illegal drugs in Western Visayas, they have not monitored the presence of clandestine drug laboratories in the region.

“They still sourced their supplies from other areas like Metro Manila,” she said.

Earlier, Police Colonel Henry Biñas, Bacolod City police chief, clarified that the high volume of drugs confiscated should not be misconstrued that supply of drugs in the area also spiked.

“In fact, there is a scarce supply of illegal drugs,” he said.

Barangays 2 and Banago, where illegal drugs used to abound, reported a dramatic decrease in illegal drugs activities.

Instead, Biñas attributed their accomplishments to the relentless campaign against illegal drugs.

“I made it free-for-all. Meaning, other stations could operate at the turf of another police station provided they make proper coordination,” he said.

So far, it helped a lot since “all of these stations have delivered.”

Under the scheme, drug dealers find it hard to ascertain which police station is snooping on them.

Currently, BCPO has 10 police stations, on top of the City Drug Enforcement Unit (CDEU) and intelligence operatives running after these druggies.

Another factor is that the police have zeroed in on illegal drug suppliers.

Recently, the PNP assigned Lieutenant Colonel Jovie Espenido in Bacolod City in a bid to curb the supply and demand reduction in the metropolis.