Pubdate: Tue, 01 Jul 2003
Source: Sun.Star Baguio (Philippines)
Copyright: 2003, Sunstar
Contact:  http://www.sunstar.com.ph/affiliate.php3?locid=2
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1942
Fax: (63-32) 254-6530
Author: Harley F. Palangchao

10TH MOST WANTED DRUG DEALER IN CORDI FALLS

OPERATIVES of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in the Cordillera
Administrative Region (PDEA-CAR) arrested the 10th most wanted personality
in its drug watchlist inside the Cooyesan Mall last Sunday.

PDEA-CAR Chief Supt. Edgardo Perez, in his report to Camp Crame, identified
the alleged wanted drug pusher as Benjamin Berio, 49, single and from
Fairview, Quezon City.

Berio was arrested inside the Cooyesan Mall along the Quirino Highway
(formerly Naguillan Road) at 3:30 p.m. while he was allegedly supposed to
deliver shabu, the report said.

An estimated three grams of shabu with an estimated market value of P6,000
was recovered from the suspected drug dealer.

A PDEA-CAR agent, who spoke on conditions of anonymity, told reporters that
Berio is allegedly supplying eight drug personalities in the city. He added
that one of the suppliers of Berio is from southern Mindanao.

Berio is detained at the Baguio City Jail while criminal charges for
violations of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Anti-Drug Law was filed
against him at the Prosecutor's Office.

The arrest of Berio came after a ranking officer of the Police Regional
Office in the Cordilleras (PRO-CAR) reported that Baguio is becoming a trade
center for small-time drug dealers from the lowlands.

The officer told reporters earlier that these drug dealers are mostly from
the Ilocos Region, where drug shipments in coastal areas allegedly remain
unabated.

Potential buyers, the police officer claimed, include college students.

Baguio is considered the most important educational center north of Manila.
About 70 percent of the city's 300,000 residents are students.

Last year, operatives of the PDEA-CAR seized more than 450 grams of shabu
(Methamphetamine Hydrochloride) from drug dealers operating in the city and
Northern Luzon.

While PDEA-CAR and the Drug Enforcement Unit of the Baguio City Police
Office have intensified its war against illegal drugs, the PRO-CAR has also
doubled its effort in helping the PDEA in its anti-marijuana projects.

The PDEA-CAR admitted that the region remains the number one source of
marijuana, accounting for almost 70 percent of the marijuana produced in the
country.

Marijuana is covertly shipped from the hinterlands of Mt. Province, Benguet,
Ifugao and Kalinga.
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MAP posted-by: Josh