NARCS HUNT DOWN 4,540 SUSPECTS

CAMP OLIVAS, Pampanga—Anti-narcotics authorities have launched an
intensified operation for the arrest of 4,540 suspected shabu users
and traffickers in Central Luzon still unaccounted for.

Local anti-narcotics have already busted at least 12 illegal drug
trafficking syndicates operating in Zambales, Nueva Ecija, and nearby
Metro Manila areas.

Records showed that at least 47 drug trafficking group were operating
in the entire Central Luzon with about 362 members equipped with high
caliber firearms.

Chief Supt. Roberto Calinisan, Central Luzon police director said that
in Pampanga alone, at least 12 out of 504 barangays were considered
seriously affected with illegal drugs, while Bulacan and Bataan
provinces had the most number of villages seriously affected and
threatened with the illegal drugs.

The Barangay Against Drug Abuse Council (BADAC), a local anti-illegal
drugs network, has its own watch list of suspected shabu users and
traffickers.

Topping the list in terms of the number of "unaccounted" suspected
shabu users and pushers in Central Luzon were the provinces of Nueva
Ecija, Bataan, and Bulacan.

Calinisan said close to 1,000 suspected shabu users and pushers were
nabbed by local anti-narcotics agents in separate raids throughout the
region in the past three months.

He also announced the opening of the 5.8-hectare Panfilo M. Lacson
Rehabilitation Center (PMLRC) that has a 150-capacity dormitory for
patients.