Pubdate: Sun, 02 Jan 2005
Source: Sunstar Manila (Philippines)
Copyright: 2005, Sunstar
Contact:  http://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2304
Author: AP
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

SIX SUSPECTED FOREIGN DRUG DEALERS SHOT DEAD

MANILA -- Six suspected drug dealers, believed to be Chinese or
Taiwanese, were fatally shot in a gun battle with anti-narcotics
agents during a raid on a drug lab in the Mindanao, officials said
Saturday.

Police were to serve a search warrant in the suspected drug lab in
Davao City amid New Year's Eve revelry late Friday when they were
fired upon by its occupants, triggering a firefight, said Anselmo
Avenido Jr., who heads the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.

Six suspected drug dealers were killed while two police officers,
wearing bullet-resistant vests, were hit by gunfire but were unhurt.

Avenido said the slain men might have been drug syndicate leaders or
chemists in charge of making methamphetamine hydrochloride, an illegal
but popular drug known locally as shabu.

About 76 kilograms of the drug, with a street value of 150 million
pesos (US$2.7 million; euro2 million), and three pistols were
recovered by the agents.

The six men killed did not have identification or travel documents and
immigration authorities were helping identify them and ascertain their
nationality, he said.

They were believed to be Chinese or Taiwanese.

The drug lab was the 11th found in 2004 in an aggressive campaign by
the government.

The drug lab, which was located through an informant, has been under
surveillance for two to three months, Avenido said.

"There may still be some shabu laboratories out there," Avenido said.
"But now, people immediately tell us when they notice something
suspicious. It's helping us a lot."

In 2003, officials destroyed at least 11 drug labs and nine warehouses
and seized 13 billion pesos (US$236 million; euro174 million) worth of
shabu and ingredients.

Authorities believe most of the drugs, now more popular in the country
than cocaine and heroin, are sold locally but Avenido said the large
volume of drugs being manufactured here suggest some were being sold
abroad.

China is the main source of shabu chemical ingredients, which are
smuggled into the Philippines and often manufactured here by Chinese
citizens, Philippine officials say. 
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