Pubdate: Mon, 28 Nov 2005
Source: People's Journal (Philippines)
Copyright: 2005 People's Journal
Contact: http://www.journal.com.ph/contactus.asp
Website: http://www.journal.com.ph/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3381
Author: Alfred Dalizon
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

SHABU LOSING GROUND TO 'GREEN GOLD' - PDEA

THE green gold that is marijuana is fast making a comeback on the
local drug scene, prompting anti-narcotics officials to intensify the
search for and destruction of cannabis fields in the country.

"We are intensifying our efforts to stop the massive production of
marijuana in the country. This is a search-and-destroy operation,"
said Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency chair Anselmo S. Avenido,
Jr.

Marijuana remains a favorite among drug addicts in the country due to
its availability and much cheaper price. A kilo of marijuana costs
P2,500 in the underground market compared to shabu which fetches as
much as P5,000 a gram.

Avenido said the PDEA is supervising the marijuana eradication
operations with the assistance of the Philippine National Police, the
Armed Forces and local government units.

Nearly 100 traditional marijuana sites have been identified by the
PDEA and the PNP across the country but the bulk are located in the
Cordillera Region, which remains to be the top cannabis producer in
the Philippines.

Both Avenido and PNP Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force
commander Director Marcelo S. Ele, Jr. said they have reports that
addicts have been turning to marijuana due to the scarcity of shabu
traced to the success of the government in dismantling dozens of shabu
laboratories and warehouses.

The PDEA and the PNP have succesfully destroyed more than a dozen
shabu factories and storage places in Metro Manila and other parts of
the country over the past three years.

But marijuana plantations continue to exist in the mountains where
fertile soil and the cold climate help the plant grow abundantly.

Ele said even New People's Army rebels have turned to marijuana
cultivation to augment their meager resources following the
government's success in cutting them off from their foreign sources of
funds.

"We believe they (NPA) are resorting to marijuana cultivation as a
means of livelihood. This has been their practice over the past few
years," Ele said.

Ele cited their latest operation in the Cordillera Region where four
big marijuana plantations were found being maintained by suspected NPA
guerrillas.

This week, AIDSOTF and PDEA operatives destroyed more that P100
million worth of marijuana   in four plantations in Benguet.

Ele said the plantations were believed being cultivated by members of
the NPA's  Sandatahang Pampropaganda Yunit operating in Benguet,
Ilocos and Mountain Province.

He identified the leader of the rebel group as one Ka Bileg.

"We believe that these marijuana plantations are one of the major
sources of funds of the CPP-NPA. We think they planted the prohibited
crop," said AIDSOTF deputy director Senior Supt. Erasto Sanchez.
- ---