POLICE ENFORCES TIGHTER SECURITY, MONITORING IN CEBU VS ILLEGAL DRUGS

CEBU CITY - The police here said it will monitor various land, water, and
air transports coming into Cebu for possible drug smuggling as authorities
tightened their watch following reports of a possible drug laboratory
operating here.

The Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 says it is continuously monitoring
several areas in Cebu to verify reports that a shabu laboratory has already
been set up here to provide illegal drugs to cities and towns in the
Visayas and Mindanao.

PRO 7 deputy director for administration Julio Augusto, however, clarified
that they still have not seen a clear indication that a shabu laboratory
has indeed been operating in Cebu.

He admitted that the information his office has received were raw and
needed to be verified.

Augusto said that two places in Cebu were last monitored after reports of
suspicious activities in those areas.

He also said that islands privately owned by businessmen will also be
monitored.

Reports of a possible drug laboratory in Cebu continues to fly thick and
thin in this city and elsewhere in Cebu province due to the continuous
supply of shabu despite the intensified campaign against illegal drugs.

The reports became even more terrifying when stories emanating from other
sources indicated that the Philippines has now been tagged as an export
base for illegal drugs.

These raw reports has sent shivers down the spine of authorities, who said
they are checking and counterchecking to determine whether these stories
are correct.

Frequent discoveries of drug laboratories, lately confined to Luzon, have
led anti-drug crusaders to believe that some international syndicates with
global connections are now operating in the country not only for the
benefit of local drug dependents but also for their clients overseas.

Aside from monitoring the many places here to locate the alleged drug
laboratory, Augusto said the police will also check different entry and
exit points for land, sea, and air transportation.

They are concerned that Cebu could be transformed into a transshipment
point for shabu.

He also said that his men have been monitoring a ship that anchors at the
Cebu port every month for possibility that the vessel could be used to
smuggle drugs here.

He said his office has been receiving reports that several ships have
allegedly dropped cargoes of shabu into the waters off Cebu.

In line with this, the Cebu City Bantay Dagat Foundation has suggested the
creation of a task force that will monitor shipments of various cargoes to
Cebu for possibility that these may be used as front to smuggle drugs.

As this developed, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in Region
7 has also formally submitted its request to the Department of Interior and
Local Government (DILG) in the region for a copy of the budget report of
various local government units (LGUs) here to check the amount they set
aside for the campaign against illegal drugs.