'SALVAGE' VICTIMS INTERRED IN PASIG SHABU MARKET

THE drug den raided by police in Pasig City was also being used as a
burial site for victims of summary executions before authorities
closed it last week, an official said yesterday.

"We're investigating reports that the site was also a killing field
where a syndicate of illegal drugs buried their victims," said
Director Marcelo Ele Jr., head of the Anti-Illegal Drugs Special
Operation Task Force.

"Most of these supposed victims were police assets," he said. "We will
excavate the area and see if we can recover the remains of missing
victims."

Police arrested 302 people at the 600-sqm compound on F. Soriano
Street in Barangay Sto. Tomas when they raided it on Feb. 10, seizing
P4 million worth of shabu, two pistols, and sacks of drug-user
equipment including tooters, aluminum foil, and disposable lighters.

Later, 168 of the 302 people arrested tested positive for drug
use.

Twenty-five policemen and barangay officials were sacked after the
raid. Officials said the drug den was in a squatters' area a few
blocks from the Pasig City Hall, and that it charged "customers" P10
to P40 to be admitted to any of at least 50 cubicles.

On Thursday, an anticrime watchdog and some senators took Pasig City
Mayor Vicente Eusebio to task for demolishing the drug den and
allegedly destroying evidence.

"Very clearly, [Eusebio] violated certain provisions of the Dangerous
Drugs Act," said Senator Panfilo Lacson, former head of the Philippine
National Police.

Yesterday, Rep. Robert Jaworski Jr. claimed that Eusebio was
intimidating witnesses to stop them from testifying on the drug den.

"These witnesses could link him to the shabu tiangge, but they are
being threatened by people identified with him," Jaworski said.

Officials say three million Filipinos are hooked on drugs, and that
the trade in illegal drugs is a P300 billion "industry."

"Of the three million regular users, only 1.8 million are documented,"
said Senior Supt. James Baugh Candido of the Philippine Drug
Enforcement Agency. "The casual users total 1.6 million, and they use
drugs out of curiosity or peer pressure," he added.