THE Police Provincial Office (PPO) carried out 164 successful operations against illegal drugs in the first five months of the year that resulted in the arrest of 209 pushers and users.

Of the total number of arrested suspects, most of whom were collared in the cities of Dagupan and Urdaneta, cases have already been filed against 205.

At least 471.3 grams of shabu and 980.5 grams of dried marijuana were confiscated from the arrested suspects, with an estimated value of P3.1 million.

P/Sr. Supt. Sterling Raymund Blanco, officer in charge of PPO, reported the statistics to the media during the KBP forum last Thursday.

“We still do not have any laboratory of illegal drugs in the province based on our intelligence and we hope that there will be none,” Blanco said.

Blanco clarified that the high number of arrested pushers and users does not signify the proliferation of illegal drugs in the province but a reflection of a strengthened campaign as ordered by Governor Amado Espino Jr.

Meanwhile, Blanco also assured the public that the peace and order situation in the province is generally peaceful despite reported shooting incidents and increased number of crimes.

“The shooting incidents are isolated cases mostly are of personal reasons and job related,” he said.

“People in Pangasinan do not have fear even when they walk around the cities and towns at night because they know they are safe here. Investors are coming in which means it is peaceful here because if not then they will not invest here,” Blanco said.

However, he admitted that there was a noted increase in the number of crimes reported in the first quarter of 2014 due to the new blotter system implemented by Philippine National Police.

“Incidents even in barangays are collected and consolidated in order to see the whole picture in the communities,” Blanco explained.–Hilda Martin Austria

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