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]
Fifteen suspected drug users turned themselves over to Compostela police station last Wednesday morning and signed a covenant with the police, vowing to assist in the campaign against illegal drugs in their locality. They were identified as Isabelito Perales, 24; Randy Jaime, 22; Ronald Comahig, 23; Jayboy Rica, 19; Randolf Rosal, 18; Jason Batucan, 23; Eduardo Batarilan, 19; Alejandro Molina, 19; Crisanto Aguilar, 30; Hector Baltinado, 21; Erwin Arenas, 23; Kim Calderon, 21; Joel Urot Jr., 22; all of barangay Buluang, and Joel Parawan, 18, and Ulysses Arias, 22, of barangay Magay. [continues 55 words]
Government agents uprooted and destroyed over P100 million worth of marijuana leaves, plants and seedlings in Benguet recently as part of the government's effort to eradicate narcotic drugs. "This operation is very significant because I think this is the first time that they have eradicated this huge volume of marijuana plants in the recent years," said Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Arturo Lomibao. Lomibao commended operatives of the PNP's Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operation Task Force, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), and the 1604th Provincial Mobile Group under Coplan Greengrass. [continues 122 words]
The Navotas municipal government has intensified its campaign against illegal drugs with the launch last week of "Pinoy BILIB Ako! Believe, Innovate, Lead, Inspire, Build" program. The public and private sectors as well as the religious sector and non-government organizations joined forces with the police in the BILIB Ako project, which is centered on information and awareness campaign against illegal drugs. Part of the project is putting up signboards in strategic areas in the town where telephone numbers of municipal government agencies involved in the anti-drug drive, the police in particular, are written. [continues 128 words]
The problem may not be as bad as in other countries, but the report that 770,000 high school students in the Philippines are abusing drugs is still alarming. As the nation marked Substance Abuse Prevention Week, the Department of Health reported that about 12 percent of 6.4 million students in both private and public high schools were substance abusers. Marijuana is the drug of choice followed by methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu, according to a study conducted by the DOH, which included random drug tests covering 5,648 high school students in different parts of the country. Other abused substances are certain brands of cough preparations, sedatives and rugby. [continues 249 words]
The Philippine National Police (PNP) is verifying reports from the Department of Health (DOH) that some 770,000 students are now hooked on drugs. PNP chief Director General Arturo Lomibao said the police would come up with its own programs to dissuade students from using illegal drugs. "We will coordinate with the DOH, and if that is really what is in their statistics, I think what should be done next is to win them over to stop them from being hooked on drugs," he said. [continues 124 words]
Around 770,000 high school students nationwide are substance abusers, the Department of Health (DOH) said yesterday. Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said while this figure - which represents 1.2 percent of the 6.4 million public and private high school students all over the country - is "not alarming" compared to international figures, "it does not mean we can let our guard down." "We have to make sure that it doesn't increase. We have to do everything to keep our youths away from vices, particularly dangerous drugs," Duque told a press briefing to mark "Substance Abuse Prevention Week." [continues 359 words]
Provincial policemen are hesitant to make drug arrests since they have to pay for the drug tests of their captives with their own money, says Naga police chief Renato Malazarte. Malazarte said the regional crime laboratory is out of drug test kits and he had to spend P1,200 from his own pocket to pay for the drug tests of four suspects arrested last November 1. Another police chief who requested anonymity also said they have no choice but to use their own money or ask their local government unit to pay for the drug tests. [continues 81 words]
Anti-drug agents claimed to have busted a syndicate behind the smuggling of marijuana to Germany and other European countries following the arrest of three men and the recovery of almost 50 kilos of died marijuana leaves from a vessel anchored near Manila Bay's breakwater near the mouth of the Pasig River.The Philippine Coast Guard are now conducting search and retrieval operations for at least four more bags containing an estimated 200 kilos marijuana, which were thrown out of the M/V Xingang when drug agents boarded the ship. [continues 345 words]
TAGBILARAN CITY - The city government's drive against illegal drugs is expected to gain headway if its plan to offer cash rewards for information that could lead to the arrest of drug users and peddlers pushes through. Starting next month, Mayor Dan Lim said the police will collate all information on the activities and whereabouts of drug pushers which a composite police team will gather from anonymous informants. During his weekly radio program, the Mayor's Report, over dyRD yesterday, Lim said there are indications that some drug pushers, whom authorities earlier had warned to stop operating in the city, have resumed their illegal trade despite continued police surveillance. [continues 242 words]
CLARK FIELD, Pampanga - The Central Luzon chief of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said yesterday there are indications that displaced jueteng workers in the region have shifted to the illegal drugs trade. "Our latest records indicate that we are busier these days tracking down more cases of illegal drugs. From 120 last July, our anti-illegal drug operations (increased) to 130 last August," PDEA regional officer Senior Superintendent Jerome Boxinella told The STAR. "The rise in the number of our operations is not that significant, but it is unusual," he said, adding that this happened after the government intensified its crackdown on jueteng. [continues 316 words]
Jueteng operators have long resorted to "kangaroo-style" mobile operations during government crackdowns. Why not drug dealers? A report published yesterday said drug traffickers have started manufacturing prohibited drugs particularly shabu in laboratories set up on ships and in trailer trucks. Naturally the mobile laboratories are harder to detect, especially when drug dealers have on their payroll anti-narcotics agents who can tip them off about police surveillance and an impending drug bust. There have been reports in the past of illegal drugs being unloaded from ships anchored offshore and smuggled through the country's coastal areas. Efforts to stop the operations were stymied by the lack of patrol vessels and personnel as well as corruption. In certain areas, local government and police officials are themselves suspected to be directly involved in drug trafficking activities. [continues 183 words]
Drug syndicates operating in the country have reportedly turned mobile in manufacturing illegal drugs to avoid detection. A ranking official of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) disclosed that big-time drug rings have started manufacturing shabu inside ships and moving trailer trucks. "We have been receiving reports that local and foreign drug syndicates have turned to using closed-container vans and yachts to manufacture shabu," the PDEA official said. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said this method makes it even more difficult for law enforcement agencies and the public to trace the source of the illegal drugs despite major arrests and increased number of raids on shabu labs. [continues 311 words]
Ketamine, which is becoming increasingly popular as a party drug among young Filipinos, has been classified as a "dangerous" substance by the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB), Cebu Rep. Eduardo Gullas said yesterday. Gullas said his office has received a copy of DDB Regulation No. 5, which reclassified ketamine from a "classified" substance to a "dangerous" drug. The DDB order will take effect on Oct. 1, he said. "We welcome the new DDB order as a timely and responsive policy intervention, in light of the numerous reports concerning the widespread use of ketamine in rave parties and dance clubs, just like the designer drug ecstasy," he said. [continues 322 words]
The Quezon City Anti-Drug Abuse Council commended yesterday 54 commanders and officers of the Central Police District (CPD) for a series of raids on clandestine shabu laboratories which yielded an estimated P800 million worth of illegal drugs. Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr. and Vice Mayor Herbert Bautista personally handed certificates of appreciation during yesterday's flag-raising ceremonies at City Hall to Police Superintendents Allan Pareno (La Loma) Emmanuel Bautista, (Batasan Hills), Bernabe Balba (Cubao) and Ruel Petra Santa (Baler). [continues 181 words]
A five-year-old girl is now fighting for her life at a hospital for multiple slash and stab wounds after being attacked by a drug-crazed man past midnight yesterday in Navotas. The victim's mother, Rosalinda Dizon, 33, a resident of Barangay Navotas West, told police her daughter remains in critical condition at the Intensive Care Unit of the Tondo Medical Center. The girl's tongue was almost severed from three slash wounds. Her neck also had at least seven deep slash wounds. She suffered from at least 61 knife wounds in different parts of the body, police said. [continues 177 words]
DAVAO CITY- Mayor Rodrigo Duterte ordered the Southern Mindanao regional office of the National Bureau of Investigation to handle all cases involving extra-judicial killings that have hounded this city for a long time now. "I am instructing the local police to forward all cases regarding summary killings, especially those that involve prominent personalities, so that the matter be given full attention and no one will complain anymore that the problem has not been addressed," Duterte said. Non-government organizations placed the number of those who have been summarily executed this year alone to reach almost 200 already. But figures also showed those who fell victims to the vigilante killings have already been more than 1,000 since 1998. The victims in the summary killings were mostly involved in the illegal drug trade if not in other crimes. [continues 199 words]
GENERAL SANTOS CITY - Operatives of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Region XII have seized at least P4-million worth of marijuana plants during separate raids in some towns of South Cotabato province. In his report submitted to PDEA regional officer Chief Inspector Jessie Estrada, SPO4 Samuel Bautista, the PDEA assistant regional director for operations, reported yesterday that their recent score was the uprooting of some 600-fully grown marijuana plants when they stormed on Friday a vast plantation in sitio Haya Doloy, Brgy. Todok in T'boli town, South Cotabato. [continues 351 words]
CAMP OLIVAS, Pampanga - Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Arturo Lomibao has ordered the Tarlac police and the Provincial Drug Enforcement Group (PDEG) to monitor piggery farms in the province which shabu syndicates might be using as fronts. Lomibao issued the order following reports that Chinese nationals involved in shabu manufacturing were using piggery farms to ply their illegal trade. Reports said shabu packs are concealed in the bellies of pigs to allow them to be transported to Manila undetected. [continues 89 words]
Six "employees" of a drug testing center accredited by Land Transportation Office (LTO) for licensing requirements were arrested by police after they were caught in a shabu session yesterday in Paranaque City. Police identified the suspects as Francis Santos, 28; Noel Carolino, 40; Eduardo Lejat; Edward Bermejo, 40; Dindo Nazareno, 32; and Edward Rosales, 30. All six had IDs issued by the Mahogany Drug Testing Center. They admitted to being fixers at the LTO. Probers said the suspects were arrested by operatives of the station's Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force at around 10:30 a.m. inside a house on MIA Road in Barangay Tambo. [continues 97 words]
DAVAO CITY - The Office of the Ombudsman for Mindanao has ordered the six-month suspension of a former police chief and three precinct commanders here for alleged negligence, inefficiency and incompetence in connection with the unsolved summary executions in this city from 1998 to last year. Most of the victims of the killings, blamed on a vigilante group called the Davao Death Squad, were suspected drug pushers and other criminals. The extra-judicial killings, however, were largely unsolved due to the absence of witnesses. [continues 249 words]
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga - Are displaced jueteng workers shifting to the illegal drugs trade? This question has cropped up at the height of the crackdown on jueteng as reports as cases of drug-related crimes in the region have reportedly increased. Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) regional director Senior Superintendent Diony Mamaril said reports as of yesterday showed that about 65 percent of some 3,553 inmates in 32 jail facilities under his office in Central Luzon are booked for drug-related cases. A 12 percent increase in the population of BJMP inmates in the region in the recent months was also noted. [continues 363 words]
The world marked International Anti-Drug Day last Sunday with the Philippines getting special mention as an exporter and transshipment point for illegal drugs. The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency reported that drug trafficking in this country has become a P300-billion industry. Authorities have reportedly identified at least nine international drug rings operating in the Philippines. The business is so profitable that despite numerous drug busts and arrests over the years, there is never a shortage of drug dealers. The popularity of drugs such as shabu or methamphetamine hydrochloride, which can be easily manufactured in small laboratories, has been a boon to drug traffickers, who have set up elaborate transnational networks. [continues 236 words]
The Chinese community is up in arms against the alleged rash of shakedown operations by agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in Manila's business centers and urged Undersecretary Anselmo Avenido of PDEA to stop the illegal activity. PDEA agents have been allegedly victimizing Chinese businessmen based in Malate and Adriatico in Manila in the past few days. One of their victims, a certain Robert, claimed that he lost P30,000 in cash, a cellular phone worth P30,000, a ring and a Rolex watch to the PDEA agents last week. [continues 353 words]
Mandaluyong City will try counseling as a new strategy in licking the city's worsening problem on illegal drugs. This idea was conceived yesterday during an anti-drug rally at the San Roque Parish in Barangay San Roque attended by ranking officials of the local police, schools, neighborhood and driver's association and civic organizations. "We believe that arresting drug pushers and users does not solve the illegal drugs problem, so we are embarking on this new idea in cooperation with the office of Mayor Neptali Gonzales," said Superintendent Ericson Velasquez, Mandaluyong City police chief. [continues 380 words]
The Anti-Illegal-Drugs Special Operations Task Force (AID-SOTF) has embarked on an intensified campaign to recruit parents and students in the war against illegal drugs. "While we are conducting massive raids to stop the supply of illegal drugs in the streets, we are also meeting with parents and students to educate them on the evils of illegal drugs," said AID-SOTF chief Deputy Director General Ricardo de Leon. With the opening of classes only a few days away, De Leon said he has ordered an intensified campaign against marijuana plantations in the Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR) and the busting of shabu and ketamine laboratories in Metro Manila and neighboring areas. [continues 233 words]
La Trinidad, Benguet -- Marijuana plants valued at P220 million were set on fire last Saturday, capping a week-long eradication drive in Ifugao, the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) police said. Chief Superintendent Noe Wong, Cordillera police director, personally led operatives of the regional Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operation Task Force, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and Ifugao police in swooping down on a large marijuana farm in Sitio Mulam, Barangay Ahin in Tinoc, Ifugao. Seized during the raid were 1.085-million fully grown marijuana plants and 316,600 marijuana seedlings which were subsequently torched. [continues 285 words]
United States Embassy charge d'affaires Joseph Mussomeli will inaugurate today the country's first academy of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in Silang, Cavite as part of the government's efforts to address the worsening problem on illegal drugs. Mussomeli will be joined by Capt. William Roig, deputy director of the Joint Interagency Task Force West (JIATF West), PDEA Director Anselmo Avenido and Philippine Public Safety College president Margarita Cojuangco at the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Interior and Local Government Secretary Angelo Reyes will be the guest speaker at the event to be held in the compound of the Philippine National Police Academy in Silang at around 10 a.m. [continues 141 words]
The Anti-Illegal Drug Special Operations Task Force (AIDSOTF) will launch today a program dubbed "Pamilya Ayaw sa Droga" to empower families in the fight against illegal drugs. AIDSOTF chief Deputy Director General Ricardo de Leon said the project is in response to the call of President Arroyo to address the culture of violence in the country. "We are aware of the rising incidence of crimes against persons. Most of these cases are gun-related and not drug related. And this is our answer to the prevailing problem," De Leon said. [continues 152 words]
Drugbusters are determined to bring the war down to the barangay level. Barangay officials in Muntinlupa City are now being trained by local police in combating illegal drugs in their respective areas through effective intelligence gathering and drug bust operations. The city's Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Office (DAPCO) said that through the training program, ranking police officers can share with barangay officials techniques in outsmarting suspected drug pushers and traffickers in the area. DAPCO chief Chito Valerio said the program would enable barangay officials to help police combat illegal drugs operations and pave the way to a barangay-wide training where all residents would be expected to participate. [continues 272 words]
The informant that helped anti-narcotics agents bust a laboratory for illegal drugs in Quezon City last May 10 will receive a P500,000 reward. Chief drugbuster Deputy Director General Ricardo de Leon and Undersecretary Anselmo Avenido, of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), are currently working for the approval of the reward to be given to the informant known only by his call sign "JL." "The computation showed that the informant should receive a P500,000 reward," said de Leon, adding Avenido was consulted on the reward allocation. [continues 387 words]
