Pubdate: Tue, 09 Apr 2002
Source: Sun.Star Baguio (Philippines)
Copyright: 2002, Sunstar
Contact:  http://www.sunstar.com.ph/affiliate.php3?locid=2
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1942
Author: Harley Palangchao

CORDI 'GRASS' FLOODING WORLD MARKET: NARGROUP

ABOUT 70 percent of the total marijuana supply worldwide are produced and 
clandestinely shipped from the Cordillera, particularly in the Mountain 
Province, Ifugao, Kalinga, and Benguet provinces.

This was the startling revelation of a National Anti-Narcotics Group official.

Chief Supt. Efren Fernandez, director of the PNP Nargroup central office, 
revealed too that a Chinese syndicate believed to have links with notorious 
international drug triads is supplying marijuana to the international market.

Fernandez claimed that the Chinese drug syndicate supplying marijuana to 
the region has links with the Yakuza of Japan, Columbia Cali of Columbia, 
the biggest cocaine producer worldwide, and the 14-K of Hong Kong.

"The marijuana issue in the Cordillera region is not a local or a national 
problem. It is an international problem, which needs an international 
response," said Fernandez, who was the special guest at the one-day North 
Luzon anti-drug workshop held in Camp Bado Dangwa, La Trinidad, Benguet.

The anti-drug workshop sought to enhance the training of personnel to 
combat the proliferation of illegal drugs in the country.

In his opening remarks during the anti-drug summit, Fernandez told drug law 
enforcement personnel of the police and the military that "perpetual 
vigilance" is the name of the game in the war against marijuana production 
in the region.

"We need to be vigilant and continuously exert more efforts to combat the 
proliferation of illegal drugs here in the region and in the entire 
country," Fernandez said, as he conceded that the drug problem is one of 
the hardest to solve.

"Hanggang sa pagtanda natin, nandyan pa rin ang problema sa drugs, so we 
need to have a wholistic approach in fighting the drug problem," he added.

Just recently, the 14th Nargroup-CAR dealt a telling blow on illegal drugs 
during a four-day operation conducted on a seven-hectare marijuana 
plantation deep in the mountains at the boundary of the towns of Bakun and 
Kibungan, Benguet.

The drug enforcers uprooted and burned more than 1.2 million fully-grown 
and flowering marijuana plants estimated to cost P156-million in the 
illicit market. This is considered as the biggest haul in the last three 
years, according to Nargroup regional chief, Sr. Insp. Marcos Ebhalan Jr.

Sometime in 1990, the United States Anti-Drug Enforcement Agency joined the 
military in the Cordillera-wide marijuana eradication in view of reports 
that bulk of produce in the region was being supplied to the US market.

Meanwhile, Senior Supt. Jacinto Dino, Nargroup operations chief, informed 
participants of the workshop that 1.8 million of the 75 million Philippine 
population are regular drug users. He said 43 percent of the users are 
government employees.

"The regular drug users can be found in the slums of Tondo to the towers in 
Makati," Dino stressed.

Dino added that such figure is expected to increase in the coming years 
even as President Arroyo declared last year that the government is aiming 
for a drug-free Philippines in year 2010.

This developed also even as anti-drug law enforcement agencies in the 
country have uncovered and eventually destroyed seven clandestine 
laboratories (shabu manufacturing machines) in Angeles City, Cagayan, 
Quezon City, Pasig City, Lipa City, and in San Juan, Metro Manila.

Since 1990 to 2000, the Nargroup has confiscated tons of illegal drugs with 
a market value of more than P21 billion compared to the P80 million worth 
of drug seized when the government started to declare an all-out war 
against illegal drugs in 1972.
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MAP posted-by: Beth