Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), over the weekend, arrested two illegal drug pushers operating in the Southern Philippines. The suspects were arrested in the province of Zamboanga Sibugay after a long period of surveillance by the government anti-drug operatives.
The culprits have been identified as Darryl Maquiling and Darwin Fabilla, who are residents of Ipil district of Zamboanga Sibugay Province. The two suspects have been in the government's illegal drug watch list for quite some time.
PDEA head, Director Lyndon Aspacio, was quoted by Zamboanga Today saying that the arrest took place in Ipil District when government operatives pretended to be buyers of illegal drugs locally known as "shabu". The officers then arrested the miscreants, who eventually did not resist, after handing over marked money.
The suspects were brought to the PDEA's headquarters and were detained in a detention cell. They will be charged in court for violating a Philippine Law known as Republic Act 9165 or legally known as the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act.
Duterte's drug war
Since Rodrigo Duterte became the president of the country in May 2016, around 8,000 suspected drug users and pushers have been killed in the war against drug peddling. A Philippine lawyer earlier contemplated filing a legal case at the International Court of Justice against Duterte and other government officials operating the illegal drugs campaign for violating human rights.
Reports disclosed there are at least 4 million drug users and pushers in the Philippines, out of which at least one million have voluntarily surrendered to police authorities since July 2016. The suspects signed a promissory note that they would no longer use, share or trade the illegal drug.
President Duterte said that the rampant use of drug in the country is destroying the future of the Filipino youth. Thus, he, along with the Philippine National Police (PNP) launched a program called "Tokhang," - an anti-illegal drug campaign where police operatives will visit houses of suspected drug users to warn them to stop using, sharing or selling the illegal drugs. "Tokhang" is a word of a local dialect in the Southern Philippines which means, knock the door.
