Gloria orders Sotto: Go get Fil-Sino drug lord, 5 dealers

03/20/2009

President Arroyo has ordered an intensified crackdown on suspected Filipino-Chinese drug lord Anthony Ang and five other drug dealers and file appropriate charges against them.

At a press briefing in Malacañang, Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) Chairman Vicente Sotto III said the Chief Executive met with the anti-drugs inter-agency task force to follow up on the case of Ang, his wife Estrella, Enrique Ong, Rolando Labandino, Harry Yao and Robert Li.

Quoting Mrs. Arroyo, Sotto said the President told the DDB to hit hard and file appropriate charges against these high-level drug dealers who are also operating in neighboring Asian countries.

She called on the inter-agency coordinating team to intensify manhunt on Ang and the five others, Sotto said.

Ang was apprehended by agents of the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group, the National Bureau of Investigation and Subic freeport authorities in May 2008 with 744 kilos of high-grade metamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu) loaded in a container van.

He, however, slipped out of the country and his possible wherabouts is not known.

Sotto said Mrs. Arroyo wanted a more effective shabu detection in various ports nationwide.

“The agreement now is it is best that we are paranoid in these cases, especially in ports to prevent a repeat of what happened,” he said.

Sotto added the DDB will undertake a shabu detection research to easily discover if a shipment contains the prohibited drug.

“Unlike cocaine, heroine and marijuana, shabu cannot be easily detected even by dogs since shabu has synthetic components,” Sotto said.

Around two weeks ago, the President ordered authorities to coordinate with the International Police to launch a global manhunt against the drug suspects.

Sotto said the President did not give a specific deadline to finish the investigation.

“There’s no deadline set. This is a high-profile case as this would need cooperation with international agencies,” the former senator said.

He also noted that there is a significant decrease in the number of persons using it due to the government’s relentless campaign against illegal drugs.

The inter-agency task force is composed of Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, Philippine Anti-Smuggling Group, National Bureau of Investigation, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, Bureau of Immigration and DDB. PNA

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