RP seeks China, HK on drug triads

RP seeks China, HK on drug triads

MANILA (AFP): The Philippines is coordinating with police authorities in China and Hong Kong to curb drug trafficking here involving Chinese triads, Vice President Joseph Estrada said yesterday.

Estrada, who heads the Presidential Anti-Crime Commission (PACC), told a press forum that the PACC was shifting the bulk of its operations after having lessened the incidence of ransom kidnappings, which mostly targeted wealthy ethnic Chinese.

"Most crimes against persons were committed because of drugs," Estrada said, citing a first quarter police study on the peace and order situation submitted to Philippine President Fidel Ramos.

PACC units on Wednesday shot dead Jose Co, a Xiamen native who allegedly ran a drug dealing operation in the Philippines by the 14-K gang which imported methampethamine hydrochloride, a banned stimulant popularly known as "ice," from laboratories in China's coastal Fujian province by way of Hong Kong.

Thirty kilograms of ice worth US$1.6 million were recovered from the slain suspect's car, according to police.