The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) reported Thursday that 1,296 wanted individuals were apprehended across Metro Manila in April as part of an intensified campaign against fugitives.

The total includes 528 individuals classified as “most wanted persons” and 768 categorized as “other wanted persons,” according to the NCRPO. Many of those arrested had been fugitives for months or years.

NCRPO credited its persistent police efforts, stating that “hiding is no longer an option” for those sought by law.

“This is a reflection of NCRPO’s intensified campaign against serious offenders — murderers, rapists and other repeat violators — removing them from communities before further harm can occur,” the agency said in a statement.

The Quezon City Police District recorded the highest number of arrests with 297, followed by the Southern Police District with 282, the Manila Police District with 273, the Northern Police District with 247, and the Eastern Police District with 197.

“Crowning this achievement was the successful arrest of 9 out of 10 individuals listed as the Top Ten Most Wanted Persons (TTMWP) at the regional level for April 2025,” the NCRPO said.

It attributed the success to carefully planned manhunt operations and effective coordination among different police units.

“These suspects — tagged for high-profile and often non-bailable offenses — were cornered through calculated manhunt operations and cohesive inter-unit coordination, leaving only one at large as of this writing,” it added.

Last month, NCRPO chief Police Major General Anthony Aberin said eight of the 10 newly listed topmost wanted persons had already been captured.

“NCRPO will not sleep in every warrant of arrest issued by the judiciary because we know that for every court-issued warrant, an aggrieved victim is patiently waiting and hoping for justice to be served,” Aberin said.

He vowed that the “crackdown will persist, and there will be no safe haven for fugitives from the law.”

In a separate incident Wednesday evening, the NCRPO also reported the arrest of a most wanted person from the Calabarzon region.

At around 9:30 p.m., the 37-year-old fugitive, wanted for violating Republic Act 9165, Article II, Section 12 (possession of equipment, instrument, apparatus and other paraphernalia for dangerous drugs), voluntarily surrendered to the Intelligence Section of the Regional Mobile Force Battalion–NCRPO after sensing intensified manhunt operations.

The suspect had been evading an arrest warrant issued on 26, November 2024, by the Regional Trial Court Branch 67 in Binangonan, Rizal, for multiple criminal cases related to illegal drug paraphernalia possession.

Authorities said that the suspect, a native of Cardona, Rizal, and a house painter, had been at large until the NCRPO’s persistent efforts led to his surrender. The operation involved coordination between the RMFB-NCRPO and the Imus City Police Station’s Warrant and Subpoena Section.