BACOLOD CITY – The Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) leads city and provincial police stations in Western Visayas in terms of illegal drug-related arrests from January to May this year, records of the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO6) show.

The BCPO, headed by Senior Supt. Ricardo de la Paz, reported 58 arrests, of which 30 cases were filed in court. Illegal drugs confiscated in the city during the period totaled P186,822.85.

The Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office comes second with 29 arrests and 10 cases filed.

"We're number one in the entire region in the campaign against dangerous drugs with 58 persons arrested and almost P200,000 worth of drugs confiscated. This is the result of our sustained anti-drug campaign," De la Paz said in an interview.

He said that since last year, the BCPO is a topnotcher in anti-illegal drug operations in the region.

"This is one of our thrusts, to reduce the volume of illegal drugs in the city and to neutralize the personalities involved. Our focus is on drug pushers," De la Paz.

However, they also continue to monitor the activities of big-time illegal drug personalities. "(So that) once we launch our operations, we have sufficient evidence against them to make sure we will have a strong case against them," he added.

In recent months, the operations of the City Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Group, led by Supt. Santiago Rapiz, and other city police units have yielded large volumes of illegal drugs, including the P100,000 worth of shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride) seized from the residence of couple live-in couple Genelyn Jimena and Nonoy Amantillo in Barangay 2 last April.

De la Paz noted that illegal drug operations in the city have been reduced after the series of arrests they have conducted.*NLG