Pubdate: Wed, 08 Jun 2005 Source: Daily Tribune, The (Philippines) Copyright: 2005 The Tribune Publishing Co., Inc. Contact: http://www.tribune.net.ph/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2973 Author: Gina Peralta-Elorde Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/areas/Philippines AVENIDO CONDEMNS US REPORT RP EXPORTER OF MARIJUANA Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) chief Director General Anselmo Avenido Jr. yesterday strongly condemned recent newspaper reports quoting two agencies of the United States government as saying the Philippines is an exporter of marijuana and hashish and a transit point for heroin and methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu. In their reports, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) World Fact Book 2005 and the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (BINLEA) International Narcotics Strategy Report 2005 claimed the Philippines is an exporter of marijuana and hashish to various parts of the world. Avenido, however, disclosed the reports have not been confirmed and validated by the PDEA's foreign counterparts. "The fact is that the last confirmed report of a big-volume shipment of marijuana to another country from the Philippines to Japan was in 2001. Since then, there were no reports from PDEA's counterpart agencies of big-volume shipment of marijuana to our neighboring countries or to Europe or USA," Avenido stressed. The PDEA chief also noted even the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), which publishes an annual World Drug Reports that list all significant seizures of illegal drugs, did not mention any big-volume seizures of marijuana from the Philippines. "If there were marijuana seizures, they were in small volume about one to five kilograms and intended mostly for Filipinos living and working abroad," Avenido said. Based on the US BINLEA reports, at least 1,400-fold increase in the volume of dried marijuana leaves was confiscated by Philippine law enforcement in 2004 compared to the 2003 seizures. The reports claimed the value of marijuana plants destroyed increased from $10.7 million in 2003 to $155 million in 2004. Avenido claimed another factor that contributed to the decline in the smuggling of marijuana from the country is several transnational drug groups specializing in smuggling marijuana to Japan have abandoned their trade due to the campaign that targeted them as priority. "Besides, marijuana is now grown in other countries and Philippine marijuana is of lesses quality compared to the marijuana grown in other countries," Avenido said. On reports the Philippines is a major producer of methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu, Avenido said there were already clandestine shabu laboratories in the country long before the establishment of PDEA. "The crackdown by Chinese authorities in the late 1990s to early 2000 caused many of the illegal drug manufacturing organizations to move to other countries in the region, including the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar and even as far as Fiji," Avenido said. Because of the massive campaign against the illegal drugs, international drug syndicates operating in the country, have decided to move to other countries. Avenido recounted there were no reports from PDEA counterparts agencies on big-volume seizures of shabu in other countries coming from the Philippines because the country continues to seize big volumes of illegal drugs coming in through the Philippine ports. He also disclosed there were no records of seizure of heroin in the country since the establishment of the PDEA in July 2002. "The last incident involving trafficking of heroin to other countries using the Philippines as transit point was in 1996-1998 period when an African briefly used the country as transit point for Southeast Asian heroin going to Europe," Avenido said. - ---