A JOINT Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and Philippine National Police (PNP) anti-narcotics operation in Cavite on Saturday afternoon resulted in the seizure of around 240 kilograms of high-grade shabu valued at nearly P1.7 billion, PDEA chair, Director General Wilkins M. Villanueva said.

Arrested during the sting at the parking lot of Max’s Restaurant in Barangay Salitran 2 along Aguinaldo Highway in Dasmariñas City in Cavite 3:30 p.m. Saturday were Wilfredo Blanco Jr.,37; and Megan Pedroro,38.

Villanueva said the two ‘high-value targets’ are residents of Kasiglahan Villave in Rodriguez, Rizal who have been under surveillance for months prior to the major buy-bust operation.

The official said the huge volume of the so-called ‘poor man’s cocaine’ were found inside the suspects’ white Toyota Hi-Ace van which has been impounded at the PDEA headquarters.

Operatives of the PDEA Region 4-A, Intelligence and Investigation Service, Special Enforcement Service and National Capital Region launched the operation with the support of agents from Task Force Noah of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the PNP Drug Enforcement Group, the Cavite Police Provincial Office and the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), said Villanueva.

It was the latest major bust made by the PDEA, the PNP and the AFP in Cavite amid their stepped-up war on drugs.

Since July 2016, over P66 billion worth of prohibited drugs, nearly 10 tons of them shabu that could have flooded the entire country and be consumed by addicts in the next six years have been seized by government agents as a result of ‘intelligence-driven’ anti-narcotics operations in Metro Manila and the rest of the.

PNP chief, General Guillermo Lorenzo T. Eleazar said the effects of the successful illegal drugs operations by the Duterte government are already being felt by ordinary Filipinos.

According to him, the successful anti-illegal drugs operations in the past five years already resulted in the unprecedented 64 percent reduction on crime in the country.

The PNP has always maintained that most of the crime incidents in the country are related to illegal drugs abuse, a position that was vindicated by the continuous and significant reduction of crime in the country in the last five years.

Last October 1, combined operatives of the PDEA and the PNP seized 149 kilograms of shabu worth P1.28 billion during a buy-bust operation in Bacoor City in Cavite.

Arrested during the sting were Jorlan San Jose,26; Joseph Maurin,38; and Joan Lumanog,27, all residents of Barangay Dominorog in Talatag, Bukidnon.

Villanueva said that over past five years, a total of 875 secret drug dens and 18 clandestine shabu laboratories were also dismantled by the government. The ‘war on drugs also led in the clearing of far of 22,858 barangays from illegal drugs with 12,477 yet to be declared as ‘drug-cleared barangays’ at present.

Last month, multi-law enforcement agency operations led by the PDEA and the PNP resulted in the confiscation of more than P5.5 billion worth of shabu in neutralization of 11 big-time drug traffickers, including the main contact of an international drug syndicate in a series of operations in Zambales, Bataan and Cavite.

The PNP chief cited the ‘whole-of-government approach’ as key factors in the series of anti-narcotics operations in the provinces of Zambales, Bataan and Cavite which led in the killing of four armed Chinese drug smugglers and two of their Filipino distributors and the arrest of five others, three of them Chinese nationals too last month.

The top PNP official said those operations are expected to have a ‘very big impact’ on the illegal drug distribution system in the country.

The sting in Bacoor City in Cavite led in the neutralization of four ‘high-value targets’ in the country and the seizure of around 229 kilograms of shabu worth nearly P1.6 billion.

Recovered during the first operation were 181 kilograms of the so-called ‘poor man’s cocaine’ worth P1.25 billion, the buy-bust money and firearms used by the suspects in trading shots with officers.

A follow-up operation in Imus City, Cavite led in the arrest of two other suspects and the confiscation of 48 kilograms of shabu worth P331.2 million.

Four of the Chinese nationals were killed in a shootout with members of the PNP-DEG under Brigadier Gen. Remus B. Medina while three were arrested. Confiscated from the suspects were a total of 580 kilograms of shabu worth P3.944 billion.