Marines, PDEA destroy P8M marijuana plants

Combined military and anti-illegal drug operatives have raided and destroyed a marijuana farm and uprooted some P8-million worth of plants in the town of Maimbung, Sulu province on Friday afternoon, Philippine Navy spokesman Colonel Omar Tonsay said.

Tonsay related that forces from the Philippine Marine Battalion Landing Team 2 (MBLT 2) and the 3rd Marine Brigade (3MBDE) and operatives of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and local police raided a half-hectare marijuana plantation in Barangay Gulangan, Maimbung town on Friday afternoon.

No one was apprehended by the joint PDEA and military operatives during the raid.

The uprooted marijuana plants were brought to the 3MBDE headquarters for safekeeping.

Brigadier General Remigio Valdez, 3MBDE commander, said the raid and successful operations was due to the well-coordinated surveillance and monitoring by the Marines and the PDEA.

Valdez vowed to pursue their campaign and operations against terrorism in his jurisdiction and to work with other agencies for the security and development of Sulu.

The PDEA are determining the identity of the owner of the said marijuana plantation.

Relatedly, a notorious shabu dealer in Sta. Mesa, Manila fell into the hands of authorities after concerned citizens reported his illegal drug activities to the PDEA.

The suspect, identified as Marvic Bansil, alias Niknok, was widely known in his neighborhood as a shabu dealer. 

Bansil reportedly sold shabu in their barangay and in adjacent communities, particularly to his primary clients who occupy a certain condominium building whom he charges a minimum of P2,000 per transaction. Residents are afraid of him because he bragged that he owned a gun, PDEA director general Jose Gutierrez said.

Based on information from a group of concerned citizens, operatives of the PDEA National Capital Region (PDEA-NCR) under Director Pedrito Magsino, conducted a validation operation against Bansil. 

Upon confirmation of Bansil’s illegal drug activities, an undercover PDEA agent transacted with the suspect in his house. Bansil was collared after he handed over a plastic sachet containing shabu to the poseur-buyer on May 29, 2012. 

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Gina Peralta-Elorde | The Daily Tribune | June 3, 2012 | Article Link

PDEA, BI close ranks vs foreign drug lords in RP

07/19/2008 | 07:32 PM

MANILA, Philippines - Two government law enforcement agencies have closed ranks in going after foreigners engaging in illicit drug trade both here and abroad.

The two agencies, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), have signed an agreement last week for a joint cooperation in the anti-drug campaign.

BI Commissioner Marcelino Libanan and PDEA Director General Dionisio Santiago inked the agreement.

"With this agreement, we are serving notice to these foreign drug lords that their days are numbered and that it won't be long before the long arm of the law will catch them," Libanan said in a statement.

The BI chief said the agreement would boost the anti-drug campaign. He noted that large volumes of illegal drugs in the country came from abroad and manufactured by foreigners.

Libanan cited some instances where law enforcers have arrested foreigners suspected of being drug chemists in raids on suspected drug dens and drug laboratories.

Under the MOA, BI agreed to assist PDEA in investigating drug cases involving foreigners and in collecting, establishing and maintaining a travel database of suspected foreign drug lords entering and leaving the country. - GMANews.TV

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/108029/PDEA-BI-close-ranks-vs-foreign-drug-lords-in-RP