P40B IN DRUGS SEIZED IN THE LAST 3 YEARS, SAYS PDEA

IN THE three years since its activation in 2002, the Philippine Drug
Enforcement Agency (PDEA) has seized 39.86 billion pesos worth of
illegal drugs, equipment and paraphernalia, its director said Wednesday.

During the period from July 30,2002 to June 30, 2005, the PDEA also
dismantled 30 clandestine drug laboratories and 21 warehouses,
arrested 76,455 suspects and filed 51,213 cases before the courts,
undersecretary Anselmo Avenido said.

Methamphetamine hydrochloride or "shabu" accounted for the bulk of the
seized drugs, worth 15,405,161,080 pesos, followed by marijuana and
its derivatives with a haul worth 2,754,563,797 pesos, Avenido said in
a report released during the PDEA's third anniversary.

Of the arrested suspects during the three-year period, 180 were
foreign nationals, he said.

Avenido warned that international drug syndicates are using the
country as a production center for "ketamine," a drug for racehorses
that is being used as a substitute for "shabu" and ecstasy.

He lamented that an order of from the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB)
classifying ketamine as an illegal drug had not taken effect. Without
this directive, suspects caught with or producing the drug are given
lighter penalties under law.

In an interview with reporters, Avenido said the PDEA is pushing for
revisions to Republic Act 4200 or the Anti-Wiretapping Law to give
them the authority to bug telephone lines of suspected drug lords.

"We are confident Congress will support us in this matter," he
said.

Avenido noted that at present, the PDEA depends on surveillance from
its Chinese counterparts on drug rings in their country to track their
operatives in the Philippines.

(1 dollar = 56.14 pesos)