Pubdate: Tue, 01 Feb 2005 Source: Philippine Star (Philippines) Copyright: PhilSTAR Daily Inc. 2005 Contact: http://www.philstar.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/622 Author: Jerry Botial Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Test) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?1043 (Christianity) DRUG CASES DOWN 60% IN CALOOCAN Caloocan City Mayor Enrico Echiverri lauded the city police for virtually neutralizing drug trafficking in the city with reported drug cases down by a hefty 60 percent in 2004. Police arrested from January to December 2004 some 347 drug suspects, 56 of which were traffickers. They also seized some 630 grams of shabu with a street value of about P1.3 million. Echiverri attributed the radical drop to the intensified anti-drug campaign waged by the local police in cooperation with community residents themselves. Aside from patient police work aimed at substantially cutting off supply lines, Echiverri said, the anti-illegal drug unit highlighted the participation of the family itself and the community in the rehabilitation and treatment of the drug dependents. The religious sector, the mayor added, has also been tapped for the patients' spiritual upliftment. In his report to Echiverri, city police chief Senior Superintendent Leo Garra said some 49 drug dependents in the city were taken to the Halfway Rehabilitation Center last year by the city's anti-illegal drugs unit. The arrests were the result of some 219 operations conducted by the anti-drug unit. Of this number, 31 were later taken to other more equipped government rehabilitation centers in the metropolis while 18, whose cases were considered minor or not yet critical, were turned over to relatives. The latter consisted of cases that can still be put under a regimen without the regular intervention of drug specialists. The Caloocan City police maintains the Halfway Center first set up in 2000 and which receives drug dependents prior to referral or transfer to government and government accredited rehabilitation centers. Echiverri said anti-drug operatives undergo a quarterly drug test to ensure they do not become drug dependents themselves. - ---