SAYS PDEA:
Calabarzon ‘narco-politics’ under watch
By Delfin Mallari Jr.
Southern Luzon Bureau
First Posted 12:44:00 01/13/2009
Filed Under: Crime, Illegal drugs
LUCENA CITY, Philippines—(UPDATE) The influence of "narco-politics" still remains in Calabarzon (Cavite-Laguna-Batangas-Rizal-Quezon) region, the chief of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) here has warned.
"These elected narco-politicians are still around in the region. We have them in our target list," Chief Inspector Christopher Abrahano, PDEA-Calabarzon regional director, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in a phone interview on Tuesday.
He did not divulge the names of politicians whom they suspected as having ties with transnational drug syndicates either as protectors or active partners in the illegal drug trade.
"It's classified. We don't want to jeopardize our operation against these targets. We're serious in our task to get them," Abrahano said.
Citing intelligence reports, PDEA Director General Dionisio Santiago, Jr. recently expressed serious concern for the involvement of some politicians in illegal drug trading to raise campaign funds for the 2010 election.
On Monday, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said no "one should be spared" in her "determined war" against illegal drugs and narco-politics.
The influence of "narco-politics" in the country came into prominence after government forces busted Quezon Mayor Ronnie Mitra on Oct. 13, 2001, while in the act of transporting 500 kilos of "shabu" (methamphetamine hydrochloride) worth over P1 billion to Metro Manila, with the use of his municipality's ambulance.
In August 2007, Mitra was sentenced to life imprisonment. But even while inside the national penitentiary serving his term, he remained tight-lipped on the identities of his partners in the illicit drug trade.
Abrahano also revealed the emergence of new drug groups in the region, which have been the recent source of illegal drugs, particularly the poor man’s cocaine or "shabu."
"With fresh supplies of drugs from these new syndicates, the current price of shabu in the region is down. From P10,000 a gram, it is now down to P8,000 to P6,000," he said.
"But we're now in the process of exposing their operations. Soon, we will unmask the personalities behind these new groups," he added.
When asked about the status of their drug cases in the courts, the PDEA official said they were still completing their inventory.
"What we found dismissed were usually small cases filed by local police force," he said over the phone.
Abrahano said the recent discovery of a drug laboratory and chemical warehouse in the area indicated that transnational drug groups still preferred to manufacture large quantities of dangerous drugs in the region.
"This is probably due to the presence of ports and industrial parks in the region which are being exploited by transnational drug traffickers. They bring in chemicals and laboratory equipment, which are declared as legitimate cargoes and then used in manufacturing dangerous drugs," he said in his yearend report, a copy of which was obtained by the Inquirer, parent company of INQUIRER.net.
Moreover, Calabarzon is near Metro Manila -- host to airports, seaports and private cargo companies. Through these ports, illegal cargo could be easily brought to target destinations abroad, according to Abrahano.
But Abrahano said Calabarzon has not been the center of drug operations in the country.
"These [drug syndicates] are highly mobile. There are just lots of opportunities for them in the region. They can conduct their business discreetly," Abrahano said over the phone.
He pointed to the vast, unmanned and remote coastlines of the region as plus factors for drug traffickers in smuggling precursors, essential chemicals and laboratory equipment used in the manufacture of dangerous drugs.
Abrahano said his office formed a "Drug Interdiction Team" in Batangas pier to apprehend smuggling.
On July 16, 2008, combined PDEA and police operatives busted in successive operations a clandestine "shabu" laboratory in rural village in Real, Quezon and a warehouse/storage facility in Biñan, Laguna.
The government team arrested five Chinese nationals suspected as chemists of high-grade "shabu." The raiders seized 30 kilos of shabu, 125 kilos of liquid methamphetamine, 10 kilos of ephedrine, assorted precursors, chemicals and laboratory equipment.
Abrahano said "shabu" remained as the perennial drug of choice in the region followed by marijuana and ecstasy.
He said the main supply of shabu in the region has been mostly coming from Bacoor, Imus, and Dasmariñas towns in Cavite province.
"These areas are also the transshipment points of drugs from Metro Manila and vise versa," he said.
In 2008, the PDEA-Calabarzon operatives busted three notorious drug syndicates based in the region -- "Alcala drug syndicate" in Lucena City; "Camilon-Rebueno group" in Imus, Cavite; and "Oca Sy" syndicate in San Pedro, Laguna.
The Calabarzon anti-drug unit also arrested a total of 2,405 drug suspects -- 620 were classified as drug pushers, 1,780 users, and five financiers/manufacturers.
Abrahano said his office and the Calabarzon police filed a total of 1,752 drug cases in various courts in the region.
He vowed to clean up the region of major illegal drug operations.
"But we can only fulfill this task with the cooperation of all sectors. The war against the drug menace should be a joint task of all citizens and government forces," he said.
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