Manila: A total of 891 drug suspects were arrested and PHP33.8 million worth of illegal drugs seized in Quezon City since January this year, police said Sunday. In a statement, Quezon City Police District (QCPD) director Brig. Gen. Melecio Buslig Jr. said they were the results of 589 anti-drug operations as of April 6.

According to Philippines News Agency, during the same period, the QCPD also arrested 913 wanted persons, 1,071 illegal gamblers, and 91 suspects involved in illegal firearms. Crimes also dropped by 14.90 percent during the past three months, from 510 cases across eight focus crimes during the same period last year to 434 this year. Classified as focus crimes are murder, homicide, physical injury, rape, theft, robbery, vehicle theft, and motorcycle theft.

The decreases were recorded in homicide (62.5 percent); murder (31.03 percent), rape (38.46 percent), physical injury (26.53 percent), theft (13.02 percent), and vehicle theft (30 percent). Additionally, the QCPD case clearance efficiency, or the percentage of cleared cases out of the total number of crime incidents handled, was at 99.77 percent.

Buslig attributed these achievements to advanced crime monitoring through the Integrated Command, Control and Communication Center (IC3), which allowed for real-time surveillance and rapid response to incidents. Buslig stressed that aside from innovative technology, these successes are also the result of strategic deployments in high crime areas and strong ties with the Quezon City government.