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Sunday, March 21, 2004
2 Japanese tourists collared with P1.6M hashish
By Harley Palangchao
CAMP DANGWA, Benguet -- Two Japanese visitors were arrested early Friday morning in Bontoc, Mt. Province for reportedly having in their possession 1,360 kilograms of marijuana hashish with an estimated street value of over P1.6 million, the police reported Saturday.
The amount of prohibited drugs confiscated from the two could be enough to make them face the death penalty.
Police identify the Japanese tourists as Shunsuke Tamazaki, 32, of Canagaw, Japan and Yohei Saito, 21 of Tokyo. The two were arrested by operatives of the Mt. Province Provincial Office in a police checkpoint along the stretch of the national highway in Dantay town.
Chief Supt. Rowland Albano, director of the Police Regional Office (PRO)-Cordillera, told reporters they have already requested the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) to officially inform the Japanese Embassy about the arrest of the two suspects.
It was not immediately ascertained as to when the two suspects arrived in the country and how frequently they visit Bontoc.
Meanwhile, the arrest of the two Japanese visitors came just as PRO-CAR received a letter from the Japanese Embassy informing them about the two-day visit of several Japanese officials, who will be briefed about the state of marijuana problem in the Cordilleras.
Consul Naoki Ida, the first secretary of the Embassy of Japan, informed PRO-CAR through Camp Crame that Yuji Ito, the assistant supervisory investigator of the Narita Customs and Shigetoshi Aoyama, Japanese International Cooperation Agency (Jica) customs expert, will visit Camp Dangwa Monday and Tuesday to get an update on the marijuana industry in the region.
Both PRO-CAR and PDEA earlier admitted the Cordilleras remains to be the number one source of the prohibited plant and its derivatives in the entire country and that bulk of the marijuana supply came from the hinterlands of Mt. Province, Benguet, Kalinga and Ifugao.
A decade ago, the United States Drug Enforcement Agency joined the local military and police in an anti-marijuana eradication in the region following reports that bulk of marijuana supply from the Cordilleras are clandestinely shipped to the US.
(March 21, 2004 issue)
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