PHILIPPINES AIMS AT 11 INTERNATIONAL, 215 LOCAL DRUG SYNDICATES

MANILA, Philippines (AP) - After chalking up gains in the fight against
kidnap gangs, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ordered police Saturday to
go after 11 international and 215 local drug syndicates operating in the
Philippines.

The syndicates were listed in an "order of battle" by the newly formed
Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency on the final day of a workshop attended
by Arroyo at Philippine National Police headquarters.

She said the groups will be "targeted and dismantled" in the same way that
police have pursued kidnappers.

"I said, 'Go after the criminals, not the crime,' " she said. "So with this
(order of battle) workshop of the PDEA, I expect that they immediately will
hit the ground running because they know what their role is."

Police say many crimes have been sparked by drugs, the most abused of which
is methamphetamine hydrochloride - the "poor man's cocaine" known locally
as "shabu." Police say much of the shabu sold in the Philippines comes from
China, smuggled through the archipelago's poorly guarded coastline.

They arrested 57 foreigners, mostly Chinese, in drug busts last year and
seized more than 1,000 kilograms (2,200 pounds) of shabu worth about 2
billion pesos (dlrs 40 million).

In her state-of-the-nation address in July, Arroyo said she would give
priority to fighting crime, particularly kidnapping, which has scared away
many investors.

About 21 kidnap gangs operate in the country, giving the Philippines a
reputation as Asia's kidnap capital.

Several gangs have been dismantled and many members and leaders have been
arrested or killed in gunbattles with police and soldiers, including Faisal
Marohombsar, a leader of the Pentagon gang included on a U.S. list of
terrorist groups.

The Pentagon group was behind last year's abduction of Italian priest
Giuseppe Pierantoni, who was freed last April. - AP