CIA DIDN'T NAME RP AS HEROIN EXPORTER

PHILIPPINE Drug Enforcement Agency chairman Anselmo S. Avenido Jr.
yesterday scored erroneous reports that the Philippines is now an
exporter of heroin.

"The Philippines is not an exporter of heroin," Avenido said as he
took exception to a report that the country now exports the illegal
drug to Asian countries, the United States and other western nations.

According to him, the US Central Intelligence Agency indeed released
its World Factbook 2004 last May which described the production and
distribution of heroin as a growing concern in many parts of the
world, apart from shabu, marijuana and hashish. However, it did not
name the Philippines as a source of heroin.

"Nowhere in the CIA World Factbook 2004 is the Philippines mentioned
as an exporter of heroin PHILIPPINE Drug Enforcement Agency head
Anselmo Avenido and Executive Secretary Alberto Romulo prepare to
present an award to an active supporter of the anti-drugs campaign
during the PDEA celebration of its second anniversary Tuesday. Photo
by Danny Querubin to Asian countries, the United States and other
western nations," he said during the 2nd anniversary celebration of
the PDEA graced by Executive Secretary Alberto Romulo.

"We are not producers of heroin and there is no report coming from
other countries that the heroin they have seized came from us. I have
also checked with our counterparts at the US Drug Enforcement
Administration to verify the report and they said there is no such
report," he said.

Filipino drug addicts are also not known for using heroin due to its
unavailability and much higher price compared to shabu and marijuana.
A kilo of shabu costs as much as P2 million on the local market but
can be sold retail at prices ranging from P100 to P2,000. Marijuana
costs as much as P2,000 a kilo or at least P10 a stick.

Avenido said the Philippines continues to share with other its
countries information and expertise in the field of drug law
enforcement to address regional and international concerns on illegal
drug trafficking and abuse.

President Macapagal-Arroyo, through Secretary Romulo, lauded the PDEA
for its successful anti-illegal drug campaign which has resulted in
the seizure of more than P2 billion worth of shabu and its precursors
since 2001.

Romulo reiterated the Chief Executive's directive to the PDEA officers
and men to press the fight against drug traffickers, particularly the
"big fish," and local syndicates behind the large-scale distribution
and sale of illegal drugs, including shabu and marijuana. She also
ordered the dismantling of international drug pipelines in the country
and a massive information drive aimed at mustering the support of the
citizenry in the anti-drug crackdown.

Avenido said the "hands-on" style of the President is largely
instrumental in the success of the campaign which so far have resulted
in the dismantling of more than a dozen shabu laboratories and
warehouses in different parts of Metro Manila and Southern Tagalog and
the arrest of some of the most wanted foreign drug personalities
including Jackson Dy, tagged as behind the operation of the biggest
shabu lab smashed by the PDEA and the Philippine National Police in
Tanza, Cavite.