CAMP DIEGO SILANG, La Union -Elements of the La Union police provincial office here headed by Senior Superintendent Franklin Bucayu confiscated 475 kilos of hybrid marijuana worth P11.8 million from two marijuana traders allegedly linked to an international syndicate. Bucayu reported that the suspects, identified as Felix Chanfing, 34, a resident of Apunga, Tublay, Benguet and Marcial Paclos, 33, a resident of Pudoy, Kapangan, Benguet, were allegedly members of a syndicate financed by a certain Genro Gatlan, of Kapangan town, who is connected with a drug syndicate operating in Thailand. [continues 203 words]
The most troubling picture that is emerging following the raid on a shabu tiangge or flea market in Pasig is that it was not an isolated operation. The circumstances that allowed a shantytown to operate as one big drug den in the heart of a bustling city are not unique to Pasig. Surely there are other places in this country where entire communities have learned to manufacture their own shabu and set up one-stop shops for drug dealers and their customers. [continues 301 words]
By The Way By Here we are bragging about our war against terrorism, when we can't even fight a war against the expanding tentacles of our homegrown drug menace. The February 10 sweep by the Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force (AIDSOTF) led by Police Director Marcelo Ele at Sitio Mapayapa - so ironically named - in Barangay Sto. Tomas, Pasig City, may have forced open a can of worms, but it's only one of the worm-infested centers of drug-trafficking. [continues 498 words]
Five mobile training teams of the police Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force (AIDSOTF) are touring schools, community and workplaces in Metro Manila and the provinces to teach students, employees and out-of-school youths the evils of prohibited drugs. AIDSOTF chief Director Marcelo Ele Jr. said the mobile teams are making great strides to educate and keep Filipinos away from illegal drugs as part of their demand reduction program. "We are receiving positive feedback on the work done by our trainors and this is attested by the numerous invitations for their appearance in schools and workplaces in Metro Manila and the provinces," Ele said. [continues 358 words]
The US Drug Enforcement Agency (USDEA) has commended the Philippine National Police (PNP) and Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operation Task Force (AIDSOTF) for stopping the operation of a compound openly selling shabu in Pasig City last Friday. "Once again your team is leading the path in fighting the war against drugs," said PNP spokesman Chief Superintendent Leopoldo Bataoil as he read the message from the USDEA. AIDSOTF is headed by Director Marcelo Ele Jr., current chief of the Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management. [continues 1154 words]
Sketches You have to hand it to the folks who ran that shabu tiangge or flea market in Pasig. They were savvy entrepreneurs, they had a sense of humor, and they knew whose palms to grease. Paying protection money was the only way that sort of enterprise could have thrived unmolested for a year, within spitting distance of the Pasig City Hall and the headquarters of the Eastern Police District. One police officer was reported to have explained that the illegal activity thrived because cops are generally reluctant to go into Muslim enclaves. [continues 977 words]
President Arroyo renewed yesterday her declaration of all-out war on the illegal drug trade especially in Metro Manila, vowing not to spare politicians or law enforcers involved in the scourge. The President's order came as police and narcotics agents apprehended 319 people on Friday, including women and minors, and confiscated over half a kilo of shabu, half a sack of tooters (glass pipes used to inhale the drug) and drug money during a raid on a neighborhood in Pasig City that served as a tiangge (flea market) where the drug could be bought, sold and used. [continues 1099 words]
This is not your ordinary tiangge or flea market. Pasig City police and anti-narcotics agents apprehended yesterday at least 200 people, including women and minors, and confiscated over half a kilo of shabu, half a sack of tooters and an undetermined amount of money during a raid on a shantytown compound that served as a tiangge (flea market) where the drug could be bought, sold and used. Joint elements of the police Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force (AIDSOTF) and the Special Action Force (SAF) stormed the drug den located at a 600-square meter compound in a squatter area called Sitio Mapayapa on F. Soriano street in Barangay Palatiw and caught the suspects in the act of buying, selling and sniffing shabu at 11:30 a.m. [continues 919 words]
The plan of Mayor Tomas Osmena and a councilor to publish the names of judges and prosecutors who dismiss drug cases or acquit drug suspects might place the mayor at risk of libel, said Regional Trial Court executive judge Simeon Dumdum Jr. yesterday. Dumdum said it is better for the mayor to include publishing the entire resolution or decisions of the case so the public may also know of the reasons of prosecutors and judges in dismissing a particular drug case. [continues 228 words]
Four civilian informants who helped the police in busting four large shabu laboratories in Metro Manila and the provinces last year are asking the government to expedite the release of their P7.5 million reward. Director Marcelo Ele Jr., commander of the Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force (AIDSOTF), said he is helping the four informants claim their reward to give "more teeth" to the government's war against drug syndicates. Ele is hoping that the four informants will be fully paid by the government so that other drug informants would surface to reveal what they know about the remaining drug syndicates operating in the country. [continues 357 words]
A criminal complaint has been filed against four agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) for allegedly planting evidence incriminating an innocent person, illegal arrest and perjury. The complainant, Arnelio Machado, of Barangay Cuyab, San Pedro, Laguna, alleged that SPO2 Marcelino Male, SPO1 Roberto Monzon, PO2 Luisito Aninias and PO2 Ronald Digman snatched and brought him to a safehouse and later demanded P1 million for his release. Not having the money, Machado claimed he was forced to pose as a buyer of shabu. [continues 129 words]
For selling P100 worth of shabu to an undercover cop last year, a female drug pusher was meted life imprisonment yesterday by a Marikina City court. Judge Geraldine Fiel-Macaraeg of the Marikina Regional Trial Court Branch 192 also ordered accused Adu Satirada to pay the government a fine of P500,000. Macaraeg gave weight to the positive identification made by a police raiding team led by Superintendent Romeo Abaring over Satirada's alibi. In her defense, Satirada said she was cooking dinner when unidentified men barged into her house looking for a drug suspect. [continues 199 words]
The Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force (AIDSOTF) is strengthening ties with its foreign counterparts to prevent drug syndicates from sneaking shabu finished products into the country through airports and seaports. AIDSOTF chief Director Marcelo Ele Jr. admitted that drug syndicates have shifted their shabu laboratories elsewhere and are now sneaking their finished products into the country through airports and seaports. "We are coordinating with our foreign counterparts to prevent drug syndicates from dumping their illegal products in the country," said Ele. [continues 286 words]
A total of P7.32 million in reward money has been handed out to 58 drug informants last year, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said yesterday. PDEA director General Anselmo Avenido Jr. assured the public that as long as the requirements for the claim for reward money are submitted and the rightful claimant is verified, the corresponding amount would be released immediately. "We would also like to assure everybody that there is no slackening in the national anti-drug campaign and there is no let-up in our fight to eradicate the drug problem," Avenido said. [continues 277 words]
They shall not pass - through our ports, that is. Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales ordered all offices of his bureau yesterday to intensify their campaign against illegal drug syndicates that may try to use the country's 15 international ports to smuggle in their drug shipments. In an order addressed to all district collectors, Morales said the Bureau of Customs (BOC) is mandated to help put a stop to the modus operandi of illegal drug syndicates of smuggling narcotics and chemical precursors in through dummy shipments. [continues 374 words]
The failure of the government to reward drug informants is hurting it's war against drug syndicates. For the past six months, not a single drug laboratory or warehouse was neutralized because informants are now shying away after the government reneged on its promise to give cash rewards. "Wala ng gustong magtrabaho sa amin dahil ang paniwala ng mga informants namin, hindi totoo ang reward system ng gobyerno (Nobody would like to work for us anymore as the informants believe that the government's reward system is not reliable)," a police official said. [continues 327 words]
Despite limited financial and manpower resources, the Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force (AIDSOTF) continues to inflict "killer blows" to drug syndicates. In 2005, 12 shabu laboratories and storage facilities in Metro Manila and other parts of the country were neutralized. With the strong commitment and enthusiasm displayed by AIDSOTF members, anti-drug czar Director Marcelo Ele Jr., declared that they are "right on target" for their primary objective of a drug-free Philippines by year 2010. This year, Ele, who also heads AIDSOTF, plans to focus more on the two-pronged approach that aims to reduce demand and supply of illegal drugs. [continues 603 words]
The price of shabu in the streets of Metro Manila soared to an all-time high of P3,000 per gram during the Christmas season, police said yesterday. "From a low of P1,200 per gram, a sachet of shabu now fetches P3,000," Senior Superintendent Felipe Rojas Jr., intelligence chief of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), told The Star. But he said the shabu supply now flooding the streets is of low quality. "Instead of buying shabu, people should spend their money on food and gifts for their relatives and loved ones so they can have a joyous Christmas," Rojas said. Earlier this month, elements of the Regional Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force (RAIDSOTF) headed by Superintendent Jerry Valeroso arrested some 10 middle level pushers, who claimed that they are now selling a gram of shabu for P3,000. "They (pushers) told us that the sale is not that brisk because the quality of the illegal drugs is not good anymore," said Rojas. [continues 373 words]
Policemen uprooted and torched some 602,000 marijuana plants worth about P120 million in separate raids last week on marijuana plantations believed maintained by the New People's Army (NPA) in the hinterlands of Benguet and Ifugao. Elements of the Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force (AIDSOTF), headed by Director Marcelo Ele Jr., made no arrests but made sure that local residents were given livelihood projects to prevent them from returning to marijuana cultivation. Ele said a civilian informant led them to the marijuana plantations on the hilly areas of Sitio Lubuk in Barangay Ahin, Tinoc, Ifugao and Sitio Soukan in Barangay Lam-ayan, Buguias, Benguet. [continues 152 words]
SANTOL, La Union - At least P84 million worth of marijuana plants were uprooted and destroyed during the four-day operation of police personnel from Camp Diego Silang and Camp Oscar Florendo at the tri-boundaries of the provinces of Ilocos Sur, Benguet and La Union. Senior Superintendent Samuel Diciano, La Union police director, said the discovery of the more than 400,000 fully grown marijuana plants and 100,000 seedlings is the biggest haul among all the operations they have conducted against marijuana. [continues 309 words]
