The Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) has arrested a total of 8,769 individuals in the region for various offenses as a result of its focused law enforcement operations for the first six months of 2024, said PRO-6 Regional Operations Division chief Police Colonel Gilbert T. Gorero.
He added that despite the number of arrests, crime in Western Visayas is manageable because there was no high-profile crime reported, like liquidations of prominent personalities, political killings, terrorist bombings, bank robberies, and kidnap for ransom, which happened during the first semester of 2024.
The PRO-6 campaign against illegal drugs during the period netted a total of P266.213 million worth of illegal drugs, composed of 38.717 kilos of shabu and 20.216 kilos of marijuana.
Policemen were able to arrest a total of 1,590 individuals during the conduct of 1,230 police operations against illegal drugs across the region.
For illegal gambling, a total of 744 police operations were conducted which resulted in the arrest of a total of 2,375 individuals and a confiscation of P972,724.00 bet money.
On the relentless efforts towards a gun-free community, PRO-6 seized a total of 2,112 assorted firearms, 316 explosives and arrested a total of 358 persons in its 350 police operations from January to June this year.
Further, a total of 512 most wanted and 2,498 other wanted personalities were nabbed during the period in the campaign against wanted persons.
In operations against illegal fishing, a total of 471 operations were conducted that resulted in the arrest of a total of 1,332 persons and confiscated around P1.317 million worth of fishes as well as P107.407 million of fishing paraphernalia while a total of 72 operations that resulted in the arrest of 104 persons and seizure of a total of 32,226.52 board feet of wood that cost around P1.644 million for illegal cutting of trees and other environmental-related laws.
A total of 435 sacks of charcoal were also confiscated during the operations.
Gorero added they were able to achieve these accomplishments with the active support of the different law enforcement agencies. (PIA-6)