ASEAN OFFICIALS TO STEP UP ANTIDRUG CAMPAIGN

SINGAPORE - Southeast Asian officials met Monday to intensify their
fight against drug trafficking and abuse while a Singaporean minister
said that efforts so far have put the brakes on rising rates of
amphetamine abuse in the region.

Ho Peng Kee, senior minister of State for Law and Home Affairs, said
joint training programs had helped law enforcement agencies across the
region crack down on the drug problem.

Ho said that after years of rising amphetamine abuse, United Nations
statistics showed that the "situation in East and Southeast Asia has
stabilized. This is a clear indication that our efforts at drug
prevention are working."

But he said more work was needed, and "we have to enhance our
cooperation in areas such as joint investigations and
operations."

Officials of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are meeting in
Singapore for a five-day training workshop to formulate joint
cooperation programs against drug abuse.

Synthetic drug abusers also topped the list of arrests for the first
time in Singapore in 2003.

Ho's comments came after the US recently listed Laos and Myanmar, two
members of the infamous Golden Triangle, on its watchlist for major
drug producing and drug transit countries.

Singapore Ministry of Home Affairs spokesperson Freddy Hong said 27
senior officials from all 10 Asean countries were attending the workshop.

Drug List

Meanwhile, the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption is preparing a
short list identifying ranking police and military officers,
politicians, judges and prosecutors involved in illegal drugs.

VACC president Dante Jimenez said the list would validate anecdotal
evidence showing 80 percent of ranking police and military officers
and a sizeable chunk of politicians were involved.

Jimenez said the people in the list were conniving to free suspected
drug pushers for hefty fees.

He cited as example Carlito Aguilar, the killer of his brother whom
drug syndicates reportedly hired. Aguilar, sentenced to life
imprisonment, was freed three years ago after he showed fake orders
from the Bureau of Corrections in Muntinlupa City.