COCAINE RECOVERED IN CAGAYAN

A fisherman turned over to Cagayan authorities about 1.2 kilos of cocaine
worth P6 million he found while fishing off Camiguin, Cagayan last Friday,
police said.

The banned drug has been scheduled for immediate burning, said Cagayan
Provincial Police Office director Supt. Rodrigo P. de Gracia.

De Gracia said the fisherman, whose name was withheld for security reasons,
found the contraband while fishing between Fuga Island and Camiguin and
decided to keep it.

When rumors about the drug find surfaced, the fisherman yielded the illegal
stuff to officials of Cagayan police, the Philippine Drug Enforcement
Agency and the provincial government Friday morning.

De Gracia said they were looking into the possibility that the contraband
could have been thrown into the sea when the unkown suspects sensed the
presence of the authorities. He said that a few years ago, fishermen also
recovered nearly three kilos of cocaine in the province.

Cagayan is a favorite transshipment point of international drug traffickers
due to its vast unguarded coastlines.

Deputy Director General Edgar B. Aglipay, the Philippine National Police
deputy chief for administration and concurrent commander of the PNP
Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force, said he has ordered a
thorough investigation into the incident.

Aglipay also refuted reports that the Philippines is now producing heroin.
"We're not a producer of heroin or cocaine. What we're finding here are
amphetamine laboratories or those producing what we call shabu," he said.

Aglipay said that even the United States Drug Enforcement Administration
has denied the report.

PDEA chair Undersecretary Anselmo S. Avenido echoed the same clarification
saying that their foreign counterparts have all denied receiving reports
that the country is now producing heroin or cocaine.

Heroin and cocaine are unpopular drug of abuse in the country with a
minimal number of consumers, mostly those belonging to the upper class who
can afford their high price.