RP, CHINA FORGE PACT VS DRUGS, KIDNAPPING

Philippine and Chinese law enforcers have agreed to strengthen bilateral
cooperation to fight drug trafficking, kidnapping and other transnational
crimes, an official said yesterday.

Officials from the National Bureau of Investigation and Chinaa TMs Ministry
of Public Security and Criminal Investigation Department met in Beijing
earlier this month to follow up an agreement between Chinese President
Jiang Zemin and President Arroyo.

The agreement "aims to stop drug trafficking, kidnapping and transnational
crimes," said NBI Director Reynaldo Wycoco.

The Philippines and China signed a mutual extradition treaty during Mrs.
Arroyoa TMs trip to China last October. Philippine authorities hope this
will deter Chinese drug traffickers and organized crime groups operating in
the Philippines.

Wycoco said he met with Zhao Yongji, Chinese deputy minister for public
security.

Philippine officers told their Chinese counterparts that many of the
suspected drug traffickers and some alleged kidnappers arrested in the
Philippines are Chinese nationals, an NBI statement said.

The law enforcement officers from the two countries will draft guidelines
to implement their increased anti-crime cooperation, the statement said.

Last week, police raided a clandestine drug laboratory in San Juan capable
of producing 100 kilos of methamphetamine hydrochloride a month and
arrested seven Chinese nationals working as chemists. Methamphetamine
hydrochloride, locally called shabu, is regarded as the "poor mana TMs
cocaine."

Police say much of the shabu sold in the Philippines comes from China. It
is one of the most widely abused drugs in the Philippines, where drug
pushing is a crime punishable by lethal injection.

Police said they arrested a total of 57 foreigners, mostly Chinese, in drug
busts last year and seized more than 1,000 kilos of shabu.

Kidnap gangs, victimizing mostly wealthy ethnic Chinese, have become a
major menace, driving away investors from the country. Police say some of
the gangs also involve Chinese nationals preying on their countrymen in the
Philippines.