179 IN PASIG RAID TEST POSITIVE FOR DRUGS

MORE than half of the 285 persons who were tested for illegal drugs
following their arrest in a drug bust in Pasig City last Friday have
tested positive.

As of 3 p.m. yesterday, 179 people had tested positive for shabu or
methamphetamine hydrochloride, 11 of whom were minors.

"We still hope that many would turn out to be negative," said Director
Marcelo Ele, the chief of the Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations
Task Force (AIDSOTF) which conducted the raid.

A total of 319 persons -- composed of 260 adults and 59 minors -- had
been arrested in the raid on a compound of about 40 shanties serving
as "one-stop shop shabu restaurants" on F. Soriano Street in Pasig
City.

As of yesterday, 285 urine samples had already been taken although it
was not clear if all the suspects would undergo testing.

Ele said that during Friday's raid, the police team invited two
councilmen from Barangay Palatiw to witness and to sign the inventory
of evidence taken from the site as required by law.

However, the councilmen could not be found, along with the chairman of
the barangay (village).

"They disappeared," Ele said.

Luckily, a councilman and several watchers from the nearby barangay of
Sto. Tomas helped out, according to Ele. (The area where the shabu
center is located is the subject of a boundary dispute.)

It was obvious that the center had the cooperation of the community,
the police official said.

Ele described it as "impregnable;" it even had its own closed circuit
TV to monitor the people coming in and out of the area.

Following the raid, Pasig City Mayor Vicente Eusebio had ordered the
demolition of the shanties inside the compound on F. Soriano Street.

In addition, the 19-man team of the Police Community Precinct 20 of
the City Police had been relieved, as well as the entire
anti-narcotics units of the Pasig City Police and the Eastern Police
District (EPD).

The policemen were also sent for drug testing to the Philippine
National Police headquarters in Camp Crame the other day to determine
if they themselves were using drugs, EPD director Chief Superintendent
Oscar Valenzuela said.