Pubdate: Wed, 31 Aug 2005
Source: Mindanao Times (Philippines)
Copyright: 2005 Mindanao Times.
Contact:  http://www.mindanaotimes.com.ph/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2980
Author: Tony Vn. Figueroa
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/af.htm (Asset Forfeiture)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/areas/Philippines

IN DRUGS WE RUST

Footprints

DESPITE the glowing reports of labs being raided and drug lords being
arrest, the problem of drug in the country, ask the Philippine Drug
Enforcement Agency (PDEA) remains a matter of concern. In fact, even
though 51 clandestine labs and warehouses yielded already P39.86
billion of illegal drugs in the past three years, the menace has only
been superficially dinted.

PDEA's statistics show that some 3.4 million Filipinos today are
hooked to drugs, and the war against these illegal articles is fraught
with danger as drug lords employ every available dirty trick to
outsmart law enforcement agencies chasing them.

 From July 30, 2002 to June 30, 2005, PDEA figures show, close to P40
billion in seizures, which included precursors and essential chemicals
and lab equipment in drug-making, had already been confiscated.  From
these achievements, 51,213 drug cases had already filed in court.

The PDEA, as part of its incentive to lure the public to help the
government in fighting the drug menace, has already rewarded P6.617
million to 58 informants under its "Operation" Private Eye" that led
to the arrest of 122 suspected drug lords.

On top of the PDEA list of seizures are amphetamines, commonly known
as "ice" in the US. Some 7.7 million grams worth P15.4 billion were
recovered. Marijuana and derivatives contributed P2.75 billion to the
cache.

The biggest illegal narcotics seizure in the country was conducted on
Sept. 24, 2004, at Mandaue City when police operatives raided three
drug laboratories and sized from one of them 7.5 tons of
methamphetamine hydrochloride, or "shabu" worth P15 billion, arguably
the largest haul from a 'megalab' in Southeast Asia. In the same raid,
the authorities also seized 675 kg of high-grade drug worth P1.3
billion from another lab.

On Nov. 21, 2003 two huge freezers found inside an Antipolo warehouse
yielded some 1,070 kilos of shabu worth P2.2B. The lab was capable of
producing 500 kilos of illegal drugs each week. Also seized were 7,295
kg of various chemicals for the manufacture of shabu.

This eclipsed the narcotics lab discovered in a seaside mansion at
Tanza, Cavite, on July 25, 2003, which yielded 653 kg of shabu worth
P1.74 billion, with a capacity to produce 50 to 60 kilos of shabu
daily worth about P100 million.

In the Philippines, the involvement of foreign nationals in drug
trafficking is very apparent in almost all the big-volume seizures the
PDEA has made. Between 2002 and June 2005, some 180 foreigners
involved in the illegal trade were arrested, which is the largest haul
thus far. In 2002, a total of 809.1 kilograms of shabu were
confiscated.

2003 was also a bountiful year.

Authorities confiscated 3,255.2 kilos of shabu, 3,322 kilos of
ephedrine and other chemicals worth P8.88 billion. Some 148 sacks of
ephedrine and 30 kilos of finished product worth P150 million, on
March 2, 2004, were seized from a house in Quezon City, where
P9-billion worth of raw materials used to produce shabu were recovered.

In 2004, some 717.56 kilos were seized, and this year's haul has
already hit 4,262.82 grams of shabu. Interestingly, the PDEA, up to
June 30, 2005, had already neutralized 407 local and 19 transnational
drug groups.

* * *

TRIVIA. The first law enacted to fight illegal drugs was RA 6425, or
the Dangerous Drugs Act of 1972; it was signed on March 30, 1972. To
provide it more teeth, the Dangerous Drug Board, the agency tasked to
implement the law, was created on Nov. 14, 1972. That same year, Lim
Seng was executed at Luneta Park, making him the first drug lord to
die by musketry. 
- ---