Posted on 04/28/2004 2:59:56 PM PDT by freepatriot32
A team of military intelligence and police drug enforcement units rounded up some 50 Muslim residents of the Al-Salam Mosque Compound in Barangay Culiat, Quezon City as part of intensified operations against illegal drugs and firearms in the metropolis.
Senior Superintendent Procopio Lipana, chief of the Central Police District-Criminal Investigation Unit (CPD-CIU), said 12 suspects remained under their custody while the rest were released.
Lipana identified the 12 as Dawabe Ben Albi Maulana, businessman from Basilan; Musa Sabaddin Abdurahman, 27; Awop Wadja Ignus, 26; Radjail Karawan Tirih, 34; Raquel Francisco Mabajo, 26; Pamaran Alain Awali, 48; Abubakar Cuevas Zunco, 34; Talib Masiba Uddin, 52; Arsad Indaman Abduhabi; Hasan Sambani Zunco, 42; Rene Hussien Ladjamalik, 43.
Lipana said the 12 had been the subject of search warrants and warrants of arrest for drug possession and illegal possession of firearms. Lipana admitted that some of those with warrants of arrest were not apprehended since they were not home when the police operation took place.
Nevertheless, they would be criminally charged as police seized evidence from their respective houses, Lipana said.
The warrants served by the lawmen during the operation were issued by Executive Judge Natividad Dizon of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court.
The police operation in the compound along Tandang Sora began at around 3 a.m. It resulted to the recovery of some 100 grams of suspected shabu and drug paraphernalia, as well as various short and long firearms, including caliber .45 handguns and M14 assault rifles with magazines.
Lipana said a bag of chemicals suspected as an ingredient in making explosive devices was also confiscated by the raiding team.
All pieces of evidence were brought to the PNP Crime Laboratory for verification.
The illegal drug and firearms operation was conducted by elements of the Central Police District; Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP); National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA); Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA); and Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force (AID-SOTF
FILIPINOS rank third in the world in consumption of amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) like "shabu" or "crack," according to a United Nations study.
A global survey by the UN's Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) on the use of Ecstasy and amphetamines in 52 countries showed Thailand as the biggest ATS user, followed by Australia and the Philippines. Other top ATS users are Ireland, Japan, Britain, Estonia, Poland, Spain, Nigeria, the United States, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Belgium, Canada and the Netherlands.
The UNODC estimates the ATS business value at about 65 billion dollars a year, with profit rates ranging between 3,000 and 4,000 percent of capital.
In the Philippines, illegal drugs have become a 216-billion-peso to 432-billion-peso industry.
Interior and Local Government Secretary Jose Lina said it would take a determined effort by the government to crush the multibillion-peso drug trade.
According to a 1999 survey, there are at least 1.8 million regular drug users in the country who consumed an average of five to 10 grams of shabu monthly. A gram of shabu costs about 2,000 pesos. . . .
Source: http://www.inq7.net/nat/2003/sep/30/nat_2-1.htm
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