Police in Negros Oriental are intensifying efforts in anticipation of the rise in illegal drug activities in the summer months, an official said on Wednesday, April 1.
Capt. Stephen Jaynard Polinar, spokesperson for the Negros Oriental Police Provincial Office (NOrPPO), said that illegal drug activity tends to rise in the coming months, especially with the influx of tourists during Holy Week and the summer.
“For the past years, we have noticed a trend of the upsurge in illegal drug activity during the Holy Week and the summer months due to the influx of tourists,” he said.
Polinar said the anti-illegal drug campaign was strengthened through the conduct of checkpoints, intelligence monitoring and surveillance, and other strategies in coordination with other law enforcement agencies.
Records from the NOrPPO showed that from Jan. 1 to March 31, this year, police seized over 1,000 grams of suspected shabu with a street value of some PHP6.9 million and some PHP600,000 worth of suspected dried marijuana leaves and uprooted marijuana plants.
During the same period, the police conducted 137 operations and arrested 23 high-value individuals, 120 street-level individuals, and one other not listed in the police’s roster of drug personalities.
“On Holy Tuesday, police arrested a suspected high-value individual during a buy-bust operation in Barangay Looc in this capital city and seized some PHP408,000 worth of suspected shabu,” he said.*PNA
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