President Rodrigo Roa Duterte on Monday praised the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) for a series of successful drug hauls that netted P1.48 billion worth of illicit narcotics, one of the largest in the country.
“To the team, both from the different agencies, police, PDEA, Army, mga intelligence community, I’d like to commend you. Congratulations,” President Duterte said in a public address, commending the government anti-drug agencies.
“There was this drug buy-bust operation sa Holy Star. Alam mo ba kung bakit sinadya ko ito dito, it’s because it is one of the largest, P1 billion something ito lahat, yesterday,” he said.
The President showed the results of different buy-bust operations in a presentation during his address.
A series of operations by the PDEA and the PNP in Quezon City, Valenzuela City and Bulacan led to the neutralization of a suspect and the arrest of four others. The two agencies are now investigating to determine the source of the illegal drugs.
Initial investigation of the authorities revealed that the drug dealers were the distributors of illegal drugs in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.
Sunday’s drug haul was believed to have come from a single source, considering the contraband’s packaging and authorities are working to identify the ringleader as well as the members of the syndicate. PND