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Supreme Court steps up action on drug pushers
The Philippines Supreme Court has allowed the government’s anti-drug agency to file applications for search warrants involving suspected drug lords and dealers, following reports that illegal drugs are being widely sold at malls, sources said.
The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) will apply for the warrants from the regional trial courts in Manila and Quezon City, following endorsement from Court Administrator Jose Midas Marquez, the High Court said.
Earlier, agencies such as the Philippine National Police, National Bureau of Investigation and the Anti-Crime Task Force were the only government agencies allowed to seek permits for search warrants on suspected cases of serious crimes, illegal gambling, illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, money laundering, smuggling and violations of the Intellectual Property Code.
Meanwhile, four people were caught selling one kilo of shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride) inside a food court in a mall in Quezon City on July 2, PDEA Public Information Office chief Derrick Carreon told the Manila Times. Carreon said the incident occurred in the north of the city but did not give more details.
Drug dealers have been operating in malls parking lots; they exchange gift-wrapped drugs through the swapping of cars, said the Times, quoting PDEA’s report on how drug dealers sell their products.
As a result, authorities are now calling for the retraining of blue guards so they can better detect and apprehend drug couriers and the deployment of drug-sniffing dogs at the malls, said the Times.
Earlier, traffickers were found selling drugs at casinos and laundering drug money through chips, following the arrest of a drug dealer inside the Resorts World Casino in suburban Pasay City last year, PDEA said. Subsequently, drug-sniffing dogs were deployed at casinos nationwide.
Drugs are also placed inside food in jails while foreign syndicates often employ luggage with false compartments, PDEA said.
Meanwhile, Senator Vicente Sotto III vowed to file a bill creating ‘Dangerous Drugs Courts’ to prevent drug cases clogging the dockets of the courts.
The proposed Collegiate Dangerous Drugs Courts will have exclusive jurisdiction to try drug cases, said Sotto, who added that the number of cases involving illegal drugs shot up when the country’s Dangerous Drugs Act took effect in 2002.
Illegal drugs sold in the Philippines include marijuana, priced between Php11 to Php300 (Dh0.91 to Dh25) per gram, ecstasy (Php1,100 to P1,800 per tablet), cocaine (Php5,000 to P7,000 per gram) and shabu (Php7,600 per gram), PDEA report said.
The volume of the drugs sold nationwide is estimated to be high, with the trade thought to be worth between $6 to $8 billion (Dh29 billion) a year.
There are reports that drug lords have been supporting the candidacies of Philippine politicians. Due to lax security, the Philippines has also become a source of methamphetamine in east and south-east Asia and Oceania, international reports said.
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