Chinese drugs threaten RP security

Chinese drugs threaten RP security

MANILA (AFP): Billions of dollars worth of smuggled Chinese narcotics constitute the Philippines' main security threat, a senior aide to President Gloria Arroyo said on Wednesday, urging Beijing to stop the flow.

Illegal Chinese factories, some possibly run by rogue Chinese troops, funnel up to 60 billion pesos (US$1.2 billion) worth of methamphetamine hydrochloride, or "ice", into the Philippines every year, National Security Adviser Roilo Golez told reporters.

Golez said cargo ships and fishing boats carry the banned stimulant through the Southeast Asian archipelago's poorly patrolled border waters. Sealed packages are then jettisoned overboard to be picked up by local boatmen, he said.

Filipino police have told Chinese officials that it was "possible" that "some moonlighting People's Liberation Army officers were the ones running the manufacturing of the plants in four or five coastal provinces in China," Golez said.