Adzhar Albani, regional director of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency XI (davaotoday.com file photo)
DAVAO CITY, Philippines — The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) here disclosed Wednesday that at least 48,000 individuals were enlisted in the agency’s drug watch list dubbed as “Oplan Double Barrel Alpha” for Davao region alone.
PDEA said those on the watch list were considered to be high-value drug targets, noting that such figure has increased by 1,000 percent.
“We are now in our phase of clearing the barangays and targeting high value personalities,” said Adzhar Albani, director of PDEA XI.
Albani said the agency validated only 25 percent out of the 48,000 HVTs. “There is an on-going validation since it is composed of several law enforcement agencies and other units.”
He noted that the drug watch list does not only include celebrities but also government employees, law enforcers, and including those serving the military.
Chief Insp. Andrea dela Cerna, spokesperson of Police Regional Office, explained that they implemented three levels for the classification of HVTs.
Level one, she said, is classified as government employees in barangay level, foreign national (but not members of transnational drug syndicate) and members of the armed groups.
For level two HVTs, Dela Cerna said they are identified as drug group members as city and municipal and barangay level officials, government employees working in national, regional, provincial, cities and municipalities level, low ranking law enforcers and officials, celebrities and media practitioners, leaders of an armed groups.
While for the level three which she classified as the highest are the drug group leaders and members in a national, regional and provincial level, drug leaders of transnational drug syndicates, high ranking law enforcers or officials, financiers and members of the judiciary (judges and prosecutors).
Dela Cerna said that the PRO XI already got 79 HVTs and three of those are classified as level three, 43 were classified as level two and 34 were classified as level one.
From Oct. 20 to Nov. 9, the PRO XI has visited 846 houses as part of the ”Oplan Tokhang” where a total of 385 drug dependents and six drug pushers surrendered.
Dela Cerna said they arrested 59 alleged illegal drug suspects and neutralized six individuals during operations. (davaotoday.com)
