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Friday, November 15, 2002
Cordillera still main source of dope: PDEA
By Harley F. Palangchao
BAGUIO -- An official of the Philippine Anti-Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in the Cordilleras has admitted the region remains the country's number one source of marijuana.
"Sad to say, Cordillera remains to be the number one source of marijuana," Supt. Danilo Manzano Jr., PDEA director, told Sun.Star.
Information from the police said 70 percent of the total marijuana supply in the country came from the mountainous areas of Mt. Province, Ifugao, Kalinga, and Benguet.
Still, Manzano pointed out that the PDEA in the Cordillera is gaining headway in its campaign against marijuana following the destruction of more than P12 million worth of the prohibited plant and its derivatives as well as more than 150 grams of shabu recently.
He also revealed that intelligence gathering is ongoing on reports that some police enforcers and PDEA-CAR personnel have links to suspected drug pushers and dealers in the region.
"We have secret efforts on this particular case because it is highly possible that some police and anti-drug law policemen are in cahoots with drug personalities," Manzano said, admitting that authorities are prone to bribery by drug personalities.
Months ago, PDEA-CAR personnel turned down the alleged P200,000 bribe of a Manila-based police officer, who tried to intervene in behalf of suspected big-time drug pushers nabbed in possession of almost half a kilo of shabu during a buy-bust operation in Baguio City.
PDEA officers agreed to the idea that one of the most effective approaches in making Cordillera a "marijuana-free region" is to file criminal charges against owners of lands planted with marijuana.
The idea came after Chief Supt. Ruben Cabagnut of the PDEA central office noted that the region remains a major source of marijuana supply in the country because no criminal case has ever been filed against owners of land cultivated with the prohibited plants. Sun.Star Baguio |
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