Republic of the Philippines

Office of the President

PHILIPPINE DRUG ENFORCEMENT AGENCY
Public Information Office
PDEA Bldg. NIA Northside Road, National Government Center, Barangay Pinyahan,
Quezon City 1100 | www.pdea.gov.ph | (02) 927-9702 | (02) 929-3244

PRESS RELEASE # 008/19

DATE : January 14, 2019
AUTHORITY : AARON N. AQUINO
Director General
For more information, comments and suggestions please call:
Director DERRICK ARNOLD C. CARREON, CESE, Chief, Public Information Office
Tel. No. 929-3244, 927-9702 Loc.131; Cell phone: 09159111585

PDEA CRACKS DOWN ON HIGH-VALUE TARGETS

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) carried out high-impact

operations (HIOs) against high-value targeted drug personalities nationwide.

PDEA Director General Aaron N. Aquino said that the agency launched anti-
drug operations targeting people who play a vital role in the proliferation of illegal drugs
in the streets.

A person is said to be a high-value targeted drug personality if he/she is

involved in illegal drug activities and falls under the following list and classification:
priority targets; priority drug groups; government officials, either elected, government
employee or law enforcers; foreign nationals; members of African Drug Syndicates
(ADS); target-listed personalities; wanted listed personalities; celebrities and other
well-known personalities; and members of armed groups.

In 2018, a total of 1,612 drug personalities classified as high-value targets

were arrested, including 53 foreign nationals, 57 elected officials, 15 uniformed
personnel, 43 government employees, 200 drug group leaders/members, 14 armed
drug group members, 182 drug den maintainers, 10 wanted-listed, 146 target-listed,
other HVTs numbering to 407, and 485 drug personalities arrested in HIOs.

“Involvement of foreign nationals greatly contributes to the spread of illegal

drug trade in the country. Majority of the foreigners arrested for drug-related offenses
were Chinese nationals with 18 or 32.37 percent,” Aquino said.

In April 2018, five Chinese nationals were arrested during separate raids that
led to the dismantling of three clandestine drug laboratories in Batangas and Malabon.
The arrested foreigners were members of Dragon Wu Syndicate which is connected
to the infamous “Golden Triangle”– notoriously known as the world’s foremost drug-
producing region operating near the borders of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar.

“Public servants and government workers are expected to lead the country
in upholding the law. However, it is alarming to note that a handful of them are involved
in the illegal drug trade,” Aquino noted.

As a result of law enforcement efforts against high-value targets, a total of

115 government workers were arrested in violation of the anti-drug law. The highest
elected official arrested for the period is a Board Member, while the highest law
enforcer is a member of the Philippine National Police (PNP) with the rank of Senior
Police Officer 2 (SPO2), and a Chief, Legal Officer (lawyer) of the Department of
Agrarian Reform (DAR) for government employees.

According to Aquino, local drug groups are the ones accountable for the
distribution of illegal drugs in the market. They usually operate in cahoots with
transnational drug groups.

During the period, 200 leaders and members of local drug groups were
apprehended. Among them were major suppliers of illegal drugs in Visayas and
Mindanao who have been in the illegal drugs industry for more than two decades. On
the other hand, out of the armed drug group members arrested, nine were members
of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), and five were members of Moro National
Liberation Front (MNLF).

“The arrest of these high-value targets established their participation in the

bulk distribution of illegal drugs in the country resulting in the high-volume drug
seizures,” the PDEA chief said, adding that more high-value targets had already been
identified.

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