Plans afoot for deployment of PDEA agents in Subic ports

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO,Pampanga, (PIA) – The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in Central Luzon affirmed the imminent deployment of PDEA agents in the air and sea ports inside the Subic Bay Freeport Zone, as part of the drug enforcement agency’s efforts on anti-drug courier.

In a press conference organized by the Philippine Information Agency- Region 3, Ronald Allan Ricardo, regional director of PDEA, said plans for the deployment are now being finalized.

PDEA, in partnership with the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), is now setting the date for the deployment, it was learned.

Ricardo revealed that the deployment of PDEA agents in the Subic airport and seaport will be sometime in April.

Meanwhile, Ricardo has confirmed the deployment of its agents at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) since end of February.

He did not reveal the total number of PDEA agents currently deployed at the DMIA, but he assured that a “substantial” number of the drug enforcement agency’s agents has been deployed at the premiere airport.

Deployed PDEA agents at DMIA, said Ricardo, assist airport security in ensuring that no drug courier or drug mule enters or exits the country via the premiere airport.

Ricardo said the country may be lacking in terms of detection devices, but with intensive manning and strict inspection procedure at our airports, the PDEA expects that a decrease and eventual elimination of drug couriers will be attained.

Meanwhile, following the confirmed execution of three overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in China sentenced with death penalty, PDEA has reiterated its call for the public to be more cautious and refrain from entertaining offers from drug syndicates which are bent on doing their business at the expense of others.

Ricardo cited the importance of intensified information and education campaign towards the total eradication of drug couriers, which, he said, is an effective tool in giving the public a better understanding of the consequences of being a drug courier or drug mule.

Currently, the government is conducting an intensified educational campaign through the PIA and its regional and provincial offices, in cooperation with the PDEA.

This campaign aims to create heightened awareness on the modus operandi of drug syndicates that prey upon unsuspecting OFWs who are recruited as drug couriers. (by William L. Beltran/PIA3)

Cocaine bricks discovered in Pundakit, Zambales shoreline

as PDEA asks fishermen to surrender cocaine

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) on Friday issued a stern warning to the public, particularly fishermen, who are in possession of cocaine bricks that were part of a 2-ton shipment dumped from a Chinese fishing vessel off Eastern Samar in December last year.

"We are once again appealing to all those who still have cocaine bricks in their possession and control to immediately cooperate by surrendering the drugs to PDEA or other law enforcement authorities. Do not wait for the long arm of the law to reach you," PDEA chief Dionisio Santiago said.

The call came after the recovery of 1.1 kilograms of cocaine buried along the shore of Barangay Pundakit, San Antonio town in Zambales province on Wednesday.

The PDEA said the cocaine bricks worth at least P5.4 million were found by fishermen while sailing in the Mindoro-Manila Bay-Bataan-Zambales area.

It said that the cocaine bricks were stuffed in big plastic containers that were found floating by the fishermen.

The fishermen buried the cocaine bricks along the shore of Barangay Pundakit, but it was discovered by the PDEA through a local informant.

The PDEA believes the cocaine bricks were part of the 2 ton shipment dumped by the Chinese fishing vessel's crew last December.

Santiago said that since December 22, a total of 395.993 kilograms of cocaine have been recovered by the PDEA.

He said some of the drugs were surrendered by fishermen and some were seized from fishermen who tried to sell the cocaine.

He said a total of 14 people have been arrested by the PDEA for selling part of the 2-ton cocaine shipment since January of this year. With a report from Gary Puno, ABS-CBN Pampanga

• Samar fisherfolk warned vs hiding cocaine haul
• PDEA burns seized shabu, cocaine
• Cocaine bricks seized off Eastern Samar
• 16 kilos of cocaine seized from Davao City wharf

2 drug suspects fall in Zambales

Two suspected members of an illegal drugs trafficking syndicate operating in Olongapo City and Zambales were arrested by operatives of Zambales Criminal Investigation Detection Team (ZCIDT) during a drug bust operation in Barangay Calapacuan, Subic, Zambales over the weekend.

Sr. Supt. Marvin Bolabola, 3rd Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (3CIDU) regional officer, identified the suspects as Raside Ojal Nail, 27, of Barangay Calapacuan, and Myra Mararac Cena, 32, of Barangay Liwas, both of Subic town. Police said that the suspects did not resist arrest when caught in possession of 1.5 grams of methamphetamine hydrochloride also known as shabu, with a street value of P9,000.

Bolabola said, that suspects were supposed to deliver their illegal drugs to a poseur buyer when intercepted by agents of the ZCIDT led by Chief Insp. Rogelio Ponce Penones and local police from the Olongapo City Police Office (OCPO) headed by Sr. Supt. Oscar D. Albayalde.

The operation was coordinated with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency regional office before the drug bust was implemented. Another companion of the suspects eluded arrest and took the marked money used in the drug bust, sensing the presence of lawmen in the area. (Franco Regala - Manila Bulletin)

Olongapo City Council Commends PDEA

The Olongapo City Council is extending its commendations to Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) General Dionisio Santiago, Major Ferdinand Marcelino and PDEA agents for apprehending big-time drug pushers in Olongapo City last Month thru Resolution No. 167, series of 2009.

Said resolution is in connection with the raid conducted by PDEA last month at a hotel in Gordon Avenue where Robert Paul Mason, Mark Anthony Quinday and Enrique “Jun” Magsaysay, alleged drug pushers were nabbed with six pieces of Demerol 100 milligram vials, several transparent plastic sachets containing shabu, a pocket digital weighing scale, one piece Valium 10 milligram, several ammunition and several drug paraphernalia.

The City Council also recognized PDEA’s persistent efforts that led to the arrest of a Jamaican National in the city carrying P75,000 worth of illegal drugs recently.

Pao/sara

Magsaysay clan member nabbed in Olongapo drug raid

A member of a political clan in Zambales province was arrested with two men, including an Australian national, from their alleged drug hole in Olongapo City late Friday, an anti-drug agency official said Saturday.

Major Ferdinand Marcelino, head of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency's (PDEA) Special Enforcement Service, identified the arrested suspects as Enrique "Jun" Magsaysay, nephew of former Zambales governor Vic Magsaysay; Australian Robert Paul Mason and a certain Mark Anthony Quinday.

Marcelino said the three were arrested from Room 4-A of Sanlavie Apartelle at #64 Barangay Asinan, Gordon Avenue in Olongapo City. He said the three suspects used the room as a drug and sex safehouse.

He said his team seized an undetermined amount of suspected heroin and methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu and various drug paraphernalia from the safehouse.

Marcelino said his agents rented a room just beside the suspects' safehouse and placed the area under surveillance for a week.

He said their agents made an improvised "peep hole" on the room's ceiling and saw scantily dressed women going in and out of the room. He said the suspects had regular drug sessions with the women.

Marcelino said pictures of the drug session and the women taken through the peep hole were used by the group to acquire a search warrant.

The PDEA said the suspects belonged to the agency's list of top drug pushers in the province.

Magsaysay, however, said that he was just in a wrong place at the wrong time. He said he went to the room to trade in a video camera.

The Australian, meanwhile, admitted that he is a drug user, but denied he was a pusher. Reports from Jeff Tombado and Ryan Chua, ABS-CBN News

SBMA cited for timely action on drug case

Two government agencies cited the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) vigilance in the seizure of over 700 kilos of shabu from a locator and now suspected drug trafficker Anthony “Anton” Ang, even as freeport industry leaders described the SBMA officials’ conduct in the seizure as an example of integrity in government service.

In the latest hearing by the Congressional committee investigating the attempted smuggling of over 700 kilos of shabu through the Subic freeport, the chief of Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Director General Dionisio Santiago cited SBMA’s vigilance resulting in the seizure of the illegal drugs.

“Had the SBMA personnel relaxed their guard in this case, billions of pesos worth of shabu would have flooded the streets,” Santiago said.

Earlier in the same hearing, Presidential Anti- Smuggling Group (PASG) chief Undersecretary Antonio Villar Jr. expressed the same recognition of SBMA success in thwarting the smuggling attempt. The seizure is the biggest haul ever in the illegal drug trade.

Armand Arreza, SBMA administrator, gave the credit to SBMA personnel, saying their dedication and honesty in their job paid off, adding that “our boys did not waiver in the face of deceit even as they exercised determined caution in giving locators the respect they deserve.”

“Our boys stood their ground, insisting on getting the shipping documents on the boxes that later turned out to contain shabu,” Arreza said, adding that “no inch was given in the demand for the shipping documents. They were protecting the interest of government after they were told by Ang the boxes contained sensitive computer parts.”

Ang, then being a known locator in SBMA, claimed that the cargo contained sensitive computer parts and requested it should not be opened while he promised to bring to the SBMA the required shipping document even when the boxes passed the dog sniffing screening to detect contraband.

Ang failed to return with the shipping documents on the promised time. The SBMA law enforcement team then called PASG, the government’s anti-smuggling group to open the boxes. It was only then that they found out the boxes contained crystalline substance that was suspected to be shabu.

The PDEA later confirmed the substance is shabu. The packaging of the shabu in boxes was intended to deceive sniffing dogs.

According to Arreza, three employees in the team that led the seizure of shabu boxes earned the “Gantimpala Agad” Awards of the Civil Service Commission while the rest were given commendations. This award is the reward component of the CSC’s “Mamamayan Muna, Hindi Mamaya Na” program. By FRANCO REGALA - Manila Bulletin

Three-man independent panel starts investigation of Subic Freeport drug case

THE three-man independent panel that investigated the Alabang Boys has started its investigation into the questionable disappearance of suspected international drug-lord Anthony Anton Ang after he was caught in possession with some P5-billion worth of high-grade shabu at the Subic Freeport Zone.

The panel, headed by retired Supreme Court Justice Carolina Grino-Aquino with San Beda Graduate College of Law Dean Fr. Ranhilio Aquino and retired Sandiganbayan Justice Raoul Victorino as members, would look into the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of the drug suspect and determine possible liabilities of prosecutors and agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group (PASG) and of the Subic Freeport authorities.

Solicitor General Agnes Deva-nadera, whose office is providing legal assistance to the probe panel, said the investigation would zero in on the administrative aspect of the case and as well as on the alleged bribery angle.

Bribery may come in, but the focus is whats going to be the accountability of the public officials, the solicitor general said.

She said the objective of the investigation is to establish some facts, and to inquire on the reaction of the officials when all things happened.

It could be lapses. It could overt act. It could be intentional acts. It could be none. It could be regular action, she added.

A congressional committee is also investigating the drug case. In its latest hearing, both the PDEA and PASG have virtually exonerated the Subic Freeport authorities, saying that Had the SBMA [Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority] personnel relaxed their guards in this case, billions worth of shabu would have flooded the streets.

Armand Arreza, SBMA administrator, gave the credit to SBMA personnel, saying their dedication to and honesty in their job paid off, adding, Our boys did not waiver in the face of deceit even as they exercised determined caution in giving locators the respect they deserve.

Ang, then being a known locator in SBMA, claimed that the cargo contained sensitive computer parts and requested it should not be opened while he promised to bring to the SBMA the required shipping documents even when the boxes passed the dog sniffing screening to detect contraband.

Ang failed to return with the shipping documents on the promised time. The SBMA law enforcement team, then called PASG, the governments anti smuggling group to open the boxes. It was only then that they found out the boxes contained crystalline substance that was suspected to be shabu.

The PDEA later confirmed the substance-contained shabu. The packaging of the shabu in boxes was intended to deceive sniffing dogs. -- William B. Depasupil -Manila Times

Subic officials knew Ang’s background

Though belated, this column wishes to thank Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority administrator Armand Arreza for the clarification he sent to the Standard Today regarding the issues we raised in our earlier column regarding the P 4-billion shabu smuggling attempt that had happened inside his turf.

It should be noted that despite the fact that it has been more than a month since we wrote our column, the issue of the multi-billion shabu smuggling at Subic is still a “live” issue in the light of the ongoing investigation of the Griño-Aquino special panel which is already on its third week of marathon hearings as well as the ongoing congressional probe.

In that column, we expressed concern over the embarrassment that the incident may have brought to our law enforcement agencies. The attempt to unload the billion-peso shabu haul was perpetrated by suspected drug smuggler Anthony Ang who has since gone into hiding. Upon the President’s recent instructions, the country’s top law enforcement agencies have launched a massive manhunt for Ang.

We are grateful to Arreza for clarifying the issues we raised. We also assure him that we are not trying to pin down responsibility for the Ang caper on SBMA officials. We merely echoed the sentiment among other law enforcement agencies that the whole situation is like having to clean up after another’s mess. Arreza, however, believes the SBMA has nothing to do with the mess created by the smuggling attempt. We must respect such view even if we don’t agree with it.

We commend Arreza’s staunch defense of his top aides, particularly one Redentor Tuazon, a lawyer. He disputed the sentiment we echoed that Tuazon may have been responsible for bringing in Ang into the SBMA. Arreza says Ang was already operating at the Subic facility before Tuazon was given his job. The point is well taken and should be conveyed to those who feel strongly that Tuazon should have done more to spare Arreza the embarrassment that the Ang incident has caused SBMA.

But we commend even more the candor and honesty of the SBMA administrator. In his letter to this paper, Arreza admitted that Tuazon and company knew of Ang’s previous entanglement with law enforcers.

“Tuazon’s office would surely have knowledge of Ang’s registered business in Subic, as well as his role in the business of ‘hot’ Ma Ling from China,” Arreza admitted.

He was, however, quick to shield Tuazon from possible accountability by telling this paper that “would this give him [Tuazon] a third eye that could discern Ang’s dark intentions”.

We respect Arreza’s view but we have to advise the good administrator that his “third eye” question has elicited mixed responses. There are those who believe that Tuazon’s knowledge of Ang’s track record should have been an incentive for the SBMA to keep a closer watch over Ang. The third eye was not necessary. The regular pair of eyes could have done it. In this case, Arreza’s officials had no eyes at all.

We also assure Arreza that his clarification has been very much appreciated by our readers, especially his pointing out that SBMA patrolmen had denied Ang’s request to have the seized boxes released to him without documentation. Arreza is right: that showed Ang was not given a VIP treatment.

But what was not answered by Arreza’s letter was the issue raised by other law enforcement agencies more than a year ago in the aftermath of Ang’s Subic smuggling try. That issue is the 48-hour “allowance” given to Ang before the boxes were opened and discovered to contain shabu. That 48-hour allowance apparently gave Ang ample time to pack up and go into hiding.

We are sure Arreza has an explanation for that. Or, even better the special investigating panel tasked by President Arroyo to look into this all-time record smuggling could try to ferret out the answer.

Newspaper reports quoted Solicitor-General Agnes Devanadera as saying that the three-member Griño-Aquino panel will specifically look into the accountability of SBMA officials “who were involved in Ang’s arrest”.

These officials need not worry. Arreza, we are sure, will do a good job in defending them before this panel which also undertook the probe of the Alabang Boys issue.

We commend Arreza for saying he welcomed the probe that will be done by the Griño-Aquino panel. The results of the probe should help him erase impressions that Subic is a smuggler’s haven and that there could be other Anthony Angs operating in the facility that has been placed under his stewardship.

Still, we hope Arreza would encourage his top lieutenants to support and take part in the probe so that their own accountabilities could be pinpointed. We do not want Arreza to end up taking all the blame for the Anthony Ang brouhaha under the principle of command responsibility.

It would be unfair for the Anthony Ang-SBMA smuggling issue to be the brand of Arreza’s stewardship. Unfortunately, there is such a thing as a “last song syndrome”. We hope this is not what the public would remember of his stint in the SBMA.

Arreza should forgive media for, this column included, for the passionate take on this Subic smuggling incident. The attention to Ang’s smuggle try would not have been this intense were it not for the embarrassment it is causing not just the government but the entire country. The incident has also reportedly caused the President to be very, very angry.

With his many connections, we’re sure Arreza can verify that report.

Maybe Arreza does not care if the President is angry over the SBMA smuggling issue. His patron, after all, is Senator Dick Gordon who has been showing signs that he is ready to defy Malacañang, or anybody for that matter, depending on the issue.

But we hope Arreza would not forget that the office he holds still reports directly to the President. And unless his friend Senator Gordon wins the presidency in 2010, the President to whom he is accountable is still Gloria Arroyo. By Alvin Capino - Counterpoint - Manila Standard Today

Drug raps filed vs drug syndicate head, cohort in Zambales

Drug cases have been lodged against the suspected leader and a member of a high-profile drug syndicate operating in Zambales province, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said Tuesday.

The anti-narcotics said that Ali Omar, alias Ali or Philip, and his accomplice, Ibrahim Solaiman, alias Solaiman, are currently detained at the PDEA Detention Center in Quezon City.

Omar and Solaiman were arrested last Friday in a search operation at Omar’s house in Iba town in Zambales. Seized from him and Solaiman was about one kilogram of methamphetamine hydrochloride, popularly known as shabu.

In a statement, PDEA director general Dionisio Santiago said the two suspects were charged with violations of provisions under Republic Act No. 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

“Omar used to offer shabu to his patrons on a consignment basis just like other legitimate business transacts normal business. His business usually ranges from 25 to 200 grams per transaction," Santiago said.

Also recovered from Omar’s possession were high-powered firearms. Santiago said Omar frequently hired armed escorts to protect him during transactions. - Katrina Louise Francisco, GMANews.TV

PDEA agents nab suspect in shabu haul

Drug enforcers have arrested a local Muslim leader who, they said, has information that could lead them to the syndicate behind the biggest ever shabu shipment confiscated in the Philippines.

The 745-kilogram contraband from China, valued at more than P5 billion, was seized at the Subic Freeport in May last year. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has ordered the arrest of former Subic investor Anthony Ang for alleged involvement in the shipment but he has remained at large, officials of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said at the weekend.

PDEA officials identified the suspect in their custody as Ali Omar, 37, an alleged drug trafficker, who was arrested on Friday in his house in Iba town, Zambales province.

Also known by the alias “Philip,” Omar is the president of the Muslim Federation of Zambales, a position he has held in the last nine years, according to the PDEA. The federation has a membership of 12,000.

Interviewed by this reporter at the PDEA headquarters in Quezon City on Saturday, Omar claimed to be instrumental in the electoral victory of many local politicians in Zambales. “Kapag sinuportahan po namin, siguradong manalo man ang kandidato (Once we give our support, for sure the candidate will win),” Omar said in Filipino.

On the day he was arrested, not one politician intervened in his behalf.

Link to ‘big guys’

“The arrest of Omar is significant in a sense that this validates the informal operational and organizational link the agency has been following up since the [recovery] in May last year of more than 740 kilograms of shabu from mainland China,” said Maj. Ferdinand Marcelino, head of the PDEA Special Enforcement Service (SES).

Marcelino said Omar had told the PDEA during interrogation recorded on video that he had a Maranao supplier of shabu in charge of the Marawi area and pointed to the supplier as the link to the “real big guys.”

Omar also claimed that the shabu supplier operated in Manila and was based in Alabang, Muntinlupa.

Omar is singing

“This one (Omar) is talking and we can confidently say that we are climbing up the ladder of this network, [toward] those who are really higher and the highest on the ladder,” Marcelino said.

“We have reason to believe that the syndicates in Zambales and those in Marawi are connected to the real deal, the financiers and operators of shipment of shabu [who are] connected to the group of Anton Ang,” Marcelino added.

The PDEA’s last information about Ang is he is now in mainland China. “Soon, very soon,” Marcelino said, when asked when they would get Ang.

Drugs and guns

Recovered during Friday’s raid—witnessed by barangay (village) officials and State Prosecutor Olivia V. Non—were one big, sealed transparent plastic bag containing a crystalline substance later tested to be shabu and weighing approximately 1 kg, assorted drug paraphernalia, one Isuzu Sportivo with plate No. ZTE-913, P43,600 in cash, one .22 cal. rifle, assorted ammunition, five cellular phones, one digital camera, one MP4, and three wallets with pictures and identification cards.

Also recovered from Omar’s vehicle was a loaded .45 cal. Taurus semiautomatic pistol which Omar said was his, claiming he was a military agent.

Protection network

PDEA agents say the arrest of Omar has provided leads to the extent of the network of protection that illegal syndicates enjoy in the province.

It also validates intelligence information that Zambales now ranks among the top consumers of illegal drugs, specifically methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu, according to Marcelino, who led Friday’s operation with other agents from the PDEA’s Complaint and Reaction Unit headed by Maj. Valentino Lopez.

The raid on Omar’s house was done with a search warrant issued by Executive Judge Cielito N. Mindaro-Grulla of the National Capital Judicial Region, Regional Trial Court Branch 29.

Extensive operation

During questioning, Omar revealed that his operation extended to many parts of Zambales, including the town of Subic.

Marcelino said the PDEA was also now focusing its attention on Zambales because of the alleged link between the drug trafficking syndicates there and syndicates in the Lanao provinces, particularly Marawi City.

Omar’s alleged involvement in illegal drugs was discovered following raids on March 13 on three drug dens in Barangay Calapacuan in Subic, where three local drug traffickers were arrested.

“Omar’s name came up and from then on, we conducted surveillance operations on his illegal drug dealings,” Marcelino said.

Gunrunning activities

During the surveillance, several men were seen in groups going in and out of Omar’s house, carrying high-powered firearms.

“We have strong evidence to support the information that he is also involved in gunrunning,” Marcelino said, adding the reason that the PDEA was in full force during the raid was because they were expecting resistance from Omar’s group.

The PDEA agents also found that Omar used vehicles allegedly without any records at the Land Transportation Office (LTO).

--By.Arlyn dela Cruz - Philippine Daily Inquirer

4 nabbed, P100K shabu seized in Subic raid

Anti-drug operatives arrested four suspected pushers and seized P100,000 worth of drugs in a predawn raid on houses in Subic town in Zambales province before dawn Friday.

Radio dzXL reported that teams from the Philippine Coast Guard and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) conducted the raid in Calapacuan village.

The report said that as of 8 a.m., PDEA and Coast Guard agents arrested Mario Sabian, brother Melanio Sabian, Marcelito Aquino and Emilio Lopez.

Mario was said to be a big-time pusher in the area, the report said.

Authorities also found some P100,000 worth of methamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu) and paraphernalia in one of the houses.

They were still serving search warrants on at least four other houses, the report said. - GMANews.TV

===

Four nabbed, P100K shabu seized in Subic drug raid

Four suspected shabu pushers were arrested in a series of raids by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in Subic town, Zambales province, early Friday.

PDEA spokesman Derrick Carreon identified the suspects as brothers Mario and Melanio Sabian, Marcelito Aquino and Emilio Lopez.

Carreon said the four were arrested in simultaneous raids conducted in Barangay Calapacuan. Seized from the suspects were P100,000 worth of methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu.

The PDEA said Mario was a known drug pusher in the area.

A radio dzMM report said that as of 9 a.m., PDEA operatives were poised to search four more houses in the village.

The four suspects have been brought to the PDEA office. abs-cbnNEWS.com

Olongapo Drug Smuggler escaped

Palace orders probe into escape of big-time drug smuggler
Malacañang on Friday ordered the Philippine National Police (PNP) and anti-drug agents to investigate how suspected big-time drug smuggler Anthony Ang was able to leave the country, despite a hold-departure order against him.

Radio dzBB quoted Press Secretary Cerge Remonde as saying that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo had given the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), the PNP, and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) one week to come up with their report on Ang's escape.

Intelligence reports revealed that Ang successfully slipped out of the country after allegedly bribing authorities with P15 million. Unconfirmed reports also said that Ang was already on his way back to China.

Undersecretary Antonio Villar, chief of the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group (PASG), refused to divulge which government agency helped Ang escape from the country. But Mrs. Arroyo vowed to punish any government official who would be found involved in Ang's escape.

Villar lamented how their three-day buy-bust operation against Ang had been put to waste. In June 2006, anti-drug agents seized a total of 744 kilograms of high-grade methamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu) worth about P5 billion in separate operations in Subic, Zambales.

Villar said that based on documents, the seized narcotics – some of them later found in a warehouse owned by Ang - apparently came from Vietnam and were bound for Taiwan via cargo ship F/B Shun Fa Xing.

Ang, who faces charges of drug trafficking and has a pending warrant of arrest – works for Hualong International Trading, a free port-registered company engaged in importing and transshipping imported cigarettes.

Ang – who has a Filipino wife – is said to also engage in the business of selling laptop parts and wine, and owns a local restaurant.

Cabinet Secretary Sylvestre Belo III said Ang’s escape was a big slap on the face of the government, which had been proclaiming to have stepped up its anti-drug campaign in the country. -Mark Merueňas, GMANews.TV

PDEA says Subic shabu case far from over

The case involving the smuggling of P4-billion worth of shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride) into the Subic Bay Freeport in May is far from closed, the chief of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said here on Tuesday.

Retired Gen. Dionisio Santiago said the case has yet to see closure as the main suspect, Filipino-Chinese Anthony “Anton” Ang, continued to elude arrest six months after he failed to claim the contraband he passed off as computer parts.

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority police and the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group discovered the haul in four batches totaling more than 700 kg. The biggest load was found at the Anglo Asia warehouse that Ang rented at the freeport.

“We haven’t gotten Anton Ang. How can you close the case when you have not arrested the main suspect? There’s no case closed. We only discovered the operations. This may take years and the criminal case may take long,” Santiago said.

He also called as false reports that Ang had been killed to silence him. “He’s still alive. He’s in China,” Santiago said, citing intelligence reports.

Ang, he said, escaped because the order to hold his departure came late.

“He will be mistaken if he thinks the PDEA has rested the case. We don’t easily stop. This is a continuing effort. If he can stay forever in China, well and good,” Santiago said.

On the order of President Macapagal-Arroyo, the PDEA burned the shabu in June in a facility in Cavite.

Ang snubbed the efforts of Santiago to seek protection from the PDEA. By Tonette Orejas - Inquirer Central Luzon Desk

Anti-drugs Groups cited

The City Council of Olongapo, led by Vice Mayor Cynthia Cajudo, passed a ‘Resolution of Appreciation’ for the witnesses of the transfer and destruction of five million pesos worth of dangerous drugs recently on Trece Martirez, Cavite.

The resolution was approved unanimously by the city council on July 30, 2008 and was signed by City Mayor James ‘Bong’ Gordon Jr. on August 20, 2008.

The groups that were the witnesses to the transfer and destruction of drugs in Cavite are as follows: Senior Citizens, Bagumbayan Volunteers, Ulo ng Apo Radio Club (DX3-UNA), Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of the Philippines, Sanguniang Kabataan- Olongapo City, Columban College, Katipunan ng mga Bantay ng Bayan ng Pilipinas (KABAYAN) and the Knights of Columbus.

The drugs, weighing over seven hundred (700) kilos were confiscated the Subic Bay Freeport on May 28, 2008 and is estimated to worth over five million pesos (P 5M).

The drugs were ordered to be burned by the Hon. Judge Raymond Viray of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in line with Section 21 of Republic Act 9165 otherwise known as Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2008”.

The Dangerous Drugs Board through its implementing arm, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), disposes and confiscates drugs such as opium, marijuana and shabu.

The groups and NGOs were commended for their steadfast dedication in the war against drugs.

“Ituloy-tuloy pa natin ang ating laban sa droga,” Mayor Gordon said. “Kaya’t dapat patuloy tayong magsagawa ng mga sports programs at iba pang pwedeng pagka-abalahan ng mga kabataan upang hindi sila malulong sa masamang bisyo.”

Video of Subic shabu destruction

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency on Friday destroyed P5.3 billion worth of dangerous drugs, said to be the biggest shipment burned at the Integrated Waste Management, Inc. facility in Cavite.

Officials said the drugs, which weighed a total of 973 kilos, included shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride)—755 kg; marijuana—1.2kg; and opium poppy seeds—217 kg.

Majority of the burned drugs, which included the entrapped 755 kg shabu shipment at the Subic Freeport in May, were seized by drug enforcement agencies.

Others present in the destruction were Vicente Sotto III, chair of the Dangerous Drugs Board, Public Attorney’s Office Chief Persida Acosta, Trece Martires Mayor Melencio de Sagun, Assistant Secretary Ferdinand Cui of the Presidential Management Staff and US Drug Enforcement Agency Asst Country Attache Kent Marchant.

The photos and videos were taken by witnesses from various NGOs and LGUs such as Columban Parish, KABAYAN, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, SK and Barangay Official, Knights of Columbus, DX3UNA Radio Group and Bagumbayan Volunteers.

Sotto said the destruction of the drugs will wipe out the country’s reputation as a trans-shipment point of illegal drugs.”

Subic shabu burned

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency on Friday destroyed P5.3 billion worth of dangerous drugs, said to be the biggest shipment burned at the Integrated Waste Management, Inc. facility in Cavite.

Officials said the drugs, which weighed a total of 973 kilos, included shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride)—755 kg; marijuana—1.2kg; and opium poppy seeds—217 kg.

Majority of the burned drugs, which included the entrapped 755 kg shabu shipment at the Subic Freeport in May, were seized by drug enforcement agencies.

A Chinese businessman identified as Anthony Ang, who was allegedly behind the drug smuggling, has remained in hiding since late last month.

Superintendent Jose AE. Rayco, regional director of PDEA Region III, said they were waiting for the warrant to be issued for Ang, his wife Estrella and his brother-in-law.

Others present in the destruction were Vicente Sotto III, chair of the Dangerous Drugs Board, Public Attorney’s Office Chief Persida Acosta, Trece Martires Mayor Melencio de Sagun, and Assistant Secretary Ferdinand Cui of the Presidential Management Staff.

Sotto said the destruction of the drugs will wipe out the country’s reputation as a trans-shipment point of illegal drugs.” Maricar Cinco, Inquirer Southern Luzon

P4.5B Subic shabu haul to be burned Friday morning

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT, Philippines - Authorities on Wednesday announced that the more than 770 kilos of confiscated shabu, estimated to be worth P4.5 billion, will be destroyed Friday morning in Cavite.

Presidential Anti Smuggling Group (PASG) chief Antonio Villar said the illegal drugs will be burned at around 10 a.m. on July 11 at the Integrated Waste Management Incorporated, located at Brgy. Aguado, Trece Martirez, Cavite.

"Maganda nga yan para mawala na ang mga duda duda ng publiko at para wala na ring bantayan ang mga tao namin sa PASG-Task Force Subic," Villar said adding that they need to enforce the court ruling as soon as possible.

Last June 26, RTC Judge Edmund Viray inspected the seized shabu and instructed government anti-narcotics units to destroy the contraband.

The illegal drug haul is still at the PASG-Task Force Subic headquarters in this Freeport and and is still being guarded by agents of PASG-TFS and two PDEA operatives.

The shabu was discovered in the vehicles of Chinese nationals Anthony "Anton" Ang and Enrique Ong on May 25 when security men saw several boxes from the Vietnam-registered cargo ship F/B Shun Fa Xing being transferred to Ang's red Mitsubishi Outlander with plate no. RAE-615.

On inspection, the boxes contained shabu.

Ang had initially escaped when was asked by Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) and PASG officials to produce documents to prove that his cargo was legal which he promised to do prompting authorities to allow him to leave.

He, however, failed to show up several hours later prompting the PASG and SBMA officials to open the boxes that yielded the crystalline substance.

He was later nabbed by authorities while attempting to make an exit outside the port.

For his part, Ong denied involvement in the illegal drug activity, claiming that Ang had only asked him to drive the vehicle. BY JOHN BAYARONG, GMANews.TV

Nasamsam na droga sa Subic ‘di pa rin sinusunog

SUBIC BAY FREEFPORT -- Hindi nakatupad ang Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group (PASG) at Presidential Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) sa kautusan ng korte na sirain ang may 714.66 kilong shabu na nasamsam dito noong isang buwan sa loob ng 24 oras pagkatapos ng ocular inspection na ginawa kamakalawa.

Sinabi ni Atty. Edmundo Arugay, deputy director ng Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group (PASG), na ang ordeer na may petsang Hunyo 26 ay inisyu ni Judge Raymund Viray ng Regional Trial Court Third Judicial Region Branch 75 at natanggap ng ng PASG at PDEA noong Hunyo 27.

Nakasaad sa kautusan na : “Within 24 hours after the ocular inspection, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) is authorized to proceed with the destruction or burning of the same (shabu) in the presence of the accused or the person/s from whom such items were confiscated.”

Inisyu ang naturang order bilang konsiderasyon sa motion na magsagawa ng isang ocular inspection ng kinumpiskang mapanganib na droga at sirain ito na iniharap ng prosecution panel.

Noong Mayo 28, ang law enforcement operatives ng Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) at PASG-Task Force Subic ay nakasamsam ng 710 kilo ng high grade crystalline shabu na nagkakahalaga ng P4.2 bilyon na karga ng F/B Shun Fa Xing mula Vietnam.

Noong Hunyo 3, may 33 kilo ng shabu na nagkakahalaga ng P180 milyon na naka-address ang nasamsam na droga sa isang Chinese national na nakilalang si Anthony ‘Anton’ Ang, ay nakunan ng SBMA Harbor Patrol Group habang nakalubog sa tubig.

Sa paliwanag ni Arugay at sinabing may ilang mga bagay pa ang dapat lutasin at clearance na kailangan bago mailipat ang mga droga sa lugar ng pagsu-sunugan.

Kabilang sa magbibigay ng clearance ang Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), office of the local government unit malapit sa Subic Freeport, national police media organizations at iba pang government at iba pang mga pribadong ahensiya.

“What we cold accomplish today is to transfer the custody of the confiscated shabu to the representatives of PDEA. And it is now their responsibility where to transfer and when to destroy the illegal drugs,” ani Arugay. Journal online

Court orders Subic shabu destroyed

OLONGAPO CITY -- A JUDGE HERE ON THURSDAY ordered the destruction of more than 700 kilograms of smuggled shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride) seized by government agents at the Subic Bay Freeport in May.

Judge Raymond Viray, of the regional trial court here, authorized the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency to “proceed with the destruction or burning of the same (shabu) in the presence of the accused or the person/s from whom such items were confiscated and/or seized or his/her representative or counsel.”

Viray on Friday inspected the seized shabu kept at the office of the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group inside the freeport.

He said the destruction or burning of the illegal drugs must take place “within 24 hours after the ocular inspection.”

Deadline extension

PDEA director general, Dionisio Santiago, said his agency is set to file on Monday a motion asking Viray to extend the 24-hour deadline for the destruction proceedings.

Viray’s order, dated June 26, was officially issued on June 27, the day court personnel inspected the contraband, according to Alvaro Lazaro, chief of the PDEA legal and prosecution unit.

The contraband is locked in a container van that the Task Force Subic, the antismuggling arm of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, has secured in its headquarters at the freeport.

Santiago said it was “not possible” for the PDEA and several other agencies to meet the deadline because the seized items have to be re-weighed and the pieces of information on the weight have to be clarified.

The PDEA is still securing a special permit from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to burn the substance. The SBMA, on the other hand, is preparing the incinerator facility. The PDEA has put on standby an incineration plant in Cavite in case the SBMA’s facility is not yet ready.

At large

Personnel of the PASG, Task Force Subic and the SBMA’s law enforcement department seized the illegal drugs in several operations in May and June.

The main suspect in the foiled smuggling at the Subic freeport, businessman Anthony “Anton” Ang, has yet to be arrested.

In a June 5 summary report on the case, the PASG said the total haul of shabu weighed 744.36 kilograms. The high-grade shabu, valued at P4 billion, could be sold at thrice that price in the retail market, the PASG said.

Santiago said the information that PDEA needed to clarify to the court is the volume of representative samples actually submitted to the Olongapo City prosecutor during the filing of the case on May 30.

The prosecutor received at least 80 kg, a volume that Santiago found to be more than what was required by law.

“The representative sample should be around 16 grams per kilogram. At 80 kg, sobra yung nai-submit ng mga investigator (the investigators submitted more than what was required). Hahanapin sa amin yung equivalent ng 80 kg (They would hold us liable for the equivalent of the 80 kg). We have to be exact here,” Santiago said.

No breakthrough

As for the investigation on who or what syndicate was behind the smuggling of shabu at the freeport, Santiago said the PDEA has “not made any major breakthrough.”

The agency took over the investigation from the SBMA and PASG on June 3.

“Some leads have political undertones,” he said.

Ang snubs PDEA ‘feelers’ to surface

Efforts to lure Anthony “Anton” Ang, a suspect in the smuggling of more than P4 billion worth of shabu at the Subic Bay Freeport in May, to seek protection from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency have failed, a top PDEA official said.

“It’s a failure. Di komokontak si Anton (Anton has not made any contact),” PDEA director general Dionisio Santiago said in a telephone interview on Thursday.

Ang has been missing in the last 24 days. Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority guards last saw him on May 26 when he made a second attempt to claim eight boxes containing shabu found in his car.

The SBMA held these because he could not show documents for the cargo that he said contained “sensitive computer parts.” The boxes later yielded packs of shabu.

Feelers through relative

Santiago said he sent feelers through a friend who turned out to be a relative of Ang.

“I sought out this friend and I asked him to tell Anton that he’s safest with us because we have no political agenda whatsoever. We just want him to come out and tell the truth,” he said.

From the first week of June until Thursday, Ang had sent no word to his relative.

“The phone that he uses whenever he contacts his family has been disabled,” Santiago said.

The PDEA chief considers Ang “key” to the investigation.

Middleman

Ang’s behavior on the night of May 25 – going to the restricted area of the freeport’s ship repair facility, parking his car across the vessel that carried the contraband and trying to take the cargo out of the freeport – indicated he was acting as the “middleman,” Santiago said.

“We want to know if this was the first time he did it or if he’s been doing this for a long time,” he said. He added that they “have no other interests in (Ang)” aside from ensuring his safety and finding out the truth.

Santiago believed that PDEA was Ang’s best refuge now that the case has taken on a “political color.” He did not elaborate on that.

Some businessmen reached by the Inquirer believed that Ang might have been killed by now to silence him.

No breakthroughs

The investigation, began by the PDEA on June 3, has not made a major breakthrough so far.

“It’s ongoing. It’s not so simple and we’re using a mixture of approaches,” Santiago said.

As to the June 18 order by President Macapagal-Arroyo to destroy the haul, he said he has formed a technical working group to oversee the burning and an inter-agency committee to monitor the entire process from transport to destruction.

“We will have to follow the rule of law prescribed in Republic Act 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002),” he said.

Santiago and a Department of Justice prosecutor in Manila were meeting on Thursday to clarify the process of obtaining the evidence.

The filing of a case by PDEA and the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group against Ang and 14 others on May 30 placed the evidence in the custody of the DOJ in Olongapo City.

Shabu repository

The contraband is kept in a container van at the office of Task Force Subic, SBMA’s anti-smuggling arm, which is also headed by PASG chief Antonio Villar Jr.

In Zambales, SBMA Administrator Armand Arreza dismissed reports linking a member of the Magsaysay family to Ang. Tonette Orejas with reports from Robert Gonzaga, Inquirer Central Luzon