Pubdate: Wed, 18 Aug 2004 Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer (Philippines) Copyright: 2004 Philippine Daily Inquirer Contact: http://www.inquirer.net/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1073 Author: Nelson Flores Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) RP, CHINA JOIN FORCES AGAINST ILLEGAL DRUGS THE PHILIPPINES and China have agreed to exchange vital information on illegal drug operations which could lead to more drug busts here as most drug traffickers arrested in the country were Chinese, according to Undersecretary Jose Calida, executive director of the Dangerous Drugs Board. The Chinese government's Narcotics Control Bureau has also agreed to help set up an information network among Asian countries in or near the Golden Triangle area of Burma, Laos and Thailand, said Calida who returned on Sunday from the 2nd Annual Training and Project Status Meeting of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Beijing. "The Chinese government's cooperation in our anti-drugs operation would surely have a positive impact," he said. The new agreement follows an earlier one between then Interior Secretary Jose Lina Jr. and the NCB in August 2003 under which the two countries agreed to conduct and coordinate joint anti-illegal drug operations and to set up workplaces for the PDEA in Beijing and for the NCB in Manila. The new agreement involves, among other things, the updating of data concerning drug syndicates operating in China and the region, said Calida. He said he used the conference to debunk international perceptions that the Philippines had become a major manufacturer of illegal substances like methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu; Ecstasy, an amphetamine-type stimulant, and heroin. He said this mistaken perception came about because of the confessions extracted from a number of drug traffickers who had been arrested abroad.