MORE METRO SHABU MARTS WATCHED

POLICE are monitoring more drug havens in Metro Manila similar to the
"shabu tiyangge" smashed Friday in an operation that netted more than
500 suspects and two kilos of the drug, assorted paraphernalia and two
guns.

"There are some similar places in the metropolis being watched by my
men and we will launch appropriate action as soon as we have gathered
enough evidence and witnesses," said Director Marcelo S. Ele, Jr.,
commander of the Philippine National Police Anti-Illegal Drugs Special
Operations Task Force.

Ele was joined by PNP chief Director General Arturo C. Lomibao in
supervising the raid at the shabu market, practically within spitting
distance of the Pasig City Hall.

The suspects, the majority of them men, were taken to Camp Crame for
fingerprinting, photographing and the customary criminal record check.
But due to lack of funds, all were not subjected to a mandatory drug
test.

Instead, the AIDSOTF decided that the drug test should be conducted at
random, particularly focusing on those who had the tell-tale signs of
being a drug addict.

Records from the PNP and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency headed
by Undersecretary Anselmo S. Avenido Jr. showed that there are dozens
of drug-affected barangays which are yet to be cleared by the
authorities.

Most of them are located in the National Capital Region which remains
the hub of all drug trafficking activities in the country.

These communities are mostly found in Pasig, Manila, Quezon City,
Pasay, Mandaluyong and Taguig. Ironically, some of these places are
near police community precincts triggering suspicion that policemen
assigned in these areas are themselves involved in the illicit drug
operations.

Dozens of policemen have been fired over the past two years after they
tested positive for use of shabu or marijuana. Others were even caught
by secret television cameras sniffing shabu right inside their
stations to the consternation of higher authorities.

Ele said they are watching known drug places, particularly the
squatter compounds where drug traffickers allow their customers to
sniff drugs as was being done in Pasig.

He said that before they conducted the Pasig City raid, his men
monitored at least 100 people going into the compound in a span of
five minutes-obviously buying or using shabu. "That showed the
magnitude of the illegal drug trade in the area," Ele said.