PDEA CLEARS GO OF DRUGS; PROBE STILL ON

With the investigation on the failed slay try on Filipino-Chinese
businessman-sportsman Go Teng Kok yet to gain ground, the Philippine Drug
Enforcement Agency (PDEA) yesterday cleared the controversial Philippine
Amateur Track and Field Association president of any involvement in illegal
drugs.

PDEA chief Anselmo Avenido said they have found no connection between the
botched assassination of Go with the illegal drug trade, in which Go was
being linked after he went out of his way to clear convicted drug queen Yu
Luk Lai during a much-pubicized Senate hearing some three years ago.

"It (Go's connection to Yu) is the only thing linking Go to the drug trade,"
Avenido said. "But about his being a drug lord, we have no information about
that."

Avenido, however, referred to Go's attempt to intervene in the case of Yu as
among the reasons why his name was always being dragged into the illegal
drug trade.

Go had earlier pinpointed his "enemies" in sports as behind the early
morning ambush that critically injured him Tuesday.

Go, however, tried to withdraw what was supposed to be his first statement
after a lone gunman pumped two bullets in his jaw that required him two
operations to remove the slugs believed to have come from a 9mm pistol.

Western Police District investigators have been silent on the developments
of their probe since releasing two cartographic sketches of the gunman and
his motorcycle-riding cohort, who provided him with a get-away vehicle.

Tribune sources revealed the motorcycle used in the ambush was already
recovered by the WPD, which denied the claim.

The motorcyle, with plate number PH-5177 resembles witnesses' description of
the get-away vehicle which the gunman and his cohort used after the gunman
pumped three bullets into Go's Mitsubishi Adventure, hitting his target
twice in the jaw.

Witnesses earlier described the motorcycle as numbered 777, atlhough
two-wheeled vehicles are usually numbered with four-digit plates.

Mediamen, however, were surprised to find the motorbike right at the WPD
headquarters on Friday morning. It was loaded in a red Nissan AUV (PPK 169),
which was parked inside the WPD-HQ along United Nations Street.

Witnesses' description of the motorbike also fits the markings found in the
same bike found at the WPD parking lot, which bear a "Dirt Devil" paint
mark, with blue, red and yellow stripes adorning its frame.

WPD officials, however, downplayed the discovery of the motorbike with one
even saying: "There is no recovery at all."

Police are having a hard time establishing the cause of Go's ambush,
although earlier reports cited his alleged links to illegal activities.

Police are also looking into Go's alleged involvement in gambling, although
investigators said the slay try may also have something to do with Go's
other businesses, including a posh KTV in central Manila.