Police kill suspected drug dealer in Zamboanga firefight

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 5, 2010) – Policemen killed Tuesday a suspected drug dealer in a firefight in Zamboanga City in the southern Philippines, officials said.

Officials said two more suspects escaped in the fighting that broke out in the village called Baliwasan, a known lair of drug gangs and criminals.

Police said a manhunt was launched to track down the two men who fled the village after the running gun battle. There was no report of casualties on the side of the police.

Officials said the policemen were on their way to arrest the trio when the men opened on the raiding team. Illegal drugs remain a big problem in Zamboanga City. (Mindanao Examiner)

Commuter bus yields illegal drugs in the southern Philippines

DIGOS CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Feb. 28, 2009) – Police arrested a commuter bus driver on Saturday after an inspection in the vehicle yielded illegal drugs in the southern Philippines.

Police did not identify the driver, but he was arrested in Digos City after lawmen inspected the bus for contraband and illegal weapons. Police recovered an envelope containing methamphetamine hydrochloride crystal or locally known as shabu.

The driver denied it was his and said the packet came from an unidentified person from Cotabato and that somebody would pick it up. Police said it is investigating the allegation of the driver.

Methamphetamine hydrochloride is a powerful, synthetic stimulant drug. It is more powerful than other forms of amphetamine. It is more pure than the powder form of methamphetamine. (Geonarri Solmerano)

Wanted Filipino Drug Dealer Finally Falls

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Sept. 22, 2008) – A notorious drug dealer wanted by Filipino authorities had been arrested after weeks of surveillance in Pagadian City in Zamboanga del Sur province, police said on Monday.

Police said Jocelyn Bana, 47, was arrested over the weekend at a gas depot while she was filling up her vehicle with fuel. Bana did not resist arrest and was surprised when she had been surrounded by police agents led by Chief Inspector Reynaldo Maclang.

Police said the woman was allegedly behind big time drug trading in the province and included in the most wanted list. She had been the object of years of police operation until her capture.

It was not immediately known whether she was transporting illegal drugs at the time of her arrest. (Erico Rosco)

Malaysia Detains 9 Filipinos Accused Of Drug Trafficking

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / September 14, 2008) – Malaysian authorities are holding 9 Filipinos who were arrested in separate raids during an anti-narcotics operations in Kuala Lumpur.

The Filipinos, eight of them women, were arrested together with 9 African nationals and a Sri Lankan woman. Federal police recovered 1.6 kilos of heroin and 540 grams of cocaine worth over RM 1.3 million from the raids on September 12, according to the official Malaysian news agency Bernama.

Police did not release the names of arrested Filipinos, but said they were being investigated for drug trafficking in Malaysia.

Datuk Zulhasnan Najib Baharudin, Federal Anti-Narcotics Department director, said those arrested were members of international drug syndicates operating in Malaysia.

He said drug syndicates previously used local women as drug couriers, but many of them had been arrested in the past.

”African nationals, who once used local women as drug couriers, are now targeting Filipinas who stay in Malaysia to carry out the task,” he said.

It was not immediately known whether the Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur was informed of the arrest of the Filipinos. Drug trafficking is a capital offense in Malaysia and is punishable by death.

In May this year, a Malaysian court sentenced two Thai citizens - Masoh Daloh, 35, and Romuelee Yakoh, 46, - who were arrested in 2002 to death by hanging for trafficking 34 kilos of marijuana. The two men appealed their convictions.

Malaysia, a predominantly Muslim country, has hanged more than 200 people for drug trafficking offenses since it imposed the death penalty in 1975.

The death penalty is widely used across Asia for drug offences, including in China, Viet Nam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, where it is a mandatory sentence for a large number of drug crimes. (Mindanao Examiner)

Gunmen Kill Drug Pusher In Zamboanga City

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / September 12, 2008) – A man who was recently released from prison on illegal drug charges was gunned down in the southern Filipino city of Zamboanga City, police said Friday.

Police said two motorcycle gunmen shot Akhmad Luckman, 34, in the village of Sinunuc in the western coast of Zamboanga on Thursday. Luckman was driving his motorcycle when the gunmen came by his side and shot him several times.

Police said they recovered empty shells from a .45-caliber pistol from the crime scene.

The motive of the attack was unknown, but police said Luckman had been freed from jail two days before he was killed. He was arrested for selling illegal drugs in Zamboanga City. It was not immediately known whether the killing was connected to his illegal activity or not. (Erico Rosco)

Police Raid Zamboanga City Shabu Lab

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Feb. 23, 2008) - Anti-narcotics agents, backed by policemen, raided a suspected shabu laboratory on a remote village in Zamboanga City in southern Philippines, but no arrest was made.

Police said it was tracking down a Taiwanese man and his Filipino cohort who allegedly operate the laboratory in the village of Lamisahan. It was the first time that authorities have discovered a shabu laboratory in Zamboanga.

Shabu which is also known as methamphetamine hydrochloride is a clear, chunky form of crystals resembling ice and is sometimes referred to as "crystal" or glass" by drug users.

The drug releases high levels of stimulant dopamine that works on brain cells to activate body movement and elevate moods. When used regularly it has a neurological toxic effect and can damage brain cells.

Policemen raided the laboratory late Friday afternoon after villagers complained of obnoxious smell coming out from a compound thought by locals as a tire recapping factory. The compound was empty, police said.

"We have recovered plastic containers with chemicals believed used in manufacturing shabu, including a hydrogenation apparatus" one policeman said.

Zamboanga City Mayor Celso Lobregat also inspected the site and ordered police to investigate who was behind the illegal drug laboratory.

Superintendent Manuel Barcena, the city police chief, said the obnoxious smell from the laboratory and the contaminated water from a creek nearby gave away the illegal operation. "There was this report about that bad smell coming from the area and also the water from the creek smelled differently and that led to the discovery of the laboratory," he said. (Mindanao Examiner)

Jolo Governor Orders Crackdown On Drugs, Weapons

Jolo island Governor Sakur Tan gestures as he speaks to police chiefs during a meeting in southern Philippines. Governor Tan orders police to arrest all known drug pushers and suppliers in Jolo and for authorities to seize all illegal weapons on the island. (Mindanao Examiner Photo Service)

JOLO ISLAND, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / 31 Aug) – Jolo island Governor Sakur Tan ordered Friday a massive crackdown on illegal drugs and has imposed a total gun ban in this southern Philippine island.

Tan met with the island’s 18 police chiefs in Jolo town and told them to step up the government’s anti-drug campaign and at the same time arrest owners of illegal weapons in an effort to stop the proliferation of unlicensed firearms on the island, about 950 kilometers south of Manila.

“We don’t want illegal drugs on the street and I have given orders to the police to arrest all those engaged in illegal drugs or those using these drugs. We also don’t want the proliferation of illegal weapons in this beautiful island,” he told the Mindanao Examiner.

Although drug use in taboo in this largely Muslims island, many young people are hooked in methamphetamine hydrochloride, popularly known as “ice,” and marijuana cigarettes.

Tan ordered the police to arrest those selling drugs. Most of the drugs come from nearby Zamboanga City.

He also ordered the dismantling of military checkpoints in Jolo and instead put flowers and other ornamentals that would beautify the island. The huge presence of armed soldiers around and checkpoints and roadblocks has made Jolo a virtual garrison.

Policemen were also told to be courteous and smile every time they speak to civilians, especially travelers or tourists. (Mindanao Examiner)

RP Police Detains Malaysian Man Over Hot Stuff

Fresh Cannabis plants

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 25 Jun) - Philippine police detained Monday a Malaysian national after he was caught carrying dried cannabis inside his brief case at the Zamboanga International Airport.

Police said airport security arrested Kosalai Poomavelu after he yielded three packs of cannabis. The foreigner denied he owns the cannabis and said he is a doctor and traveling in the Philippines.

Poomavelu came from Davao City by plane and was arrested before he could take his flight back to Malaysia in Zamboanga City. "At first he refused to let airport security inspect his baggage and then tried to hide the marijuana in his pockets," the head of the airport police, Ybar Padao, said.

The cultivation or possession of Cannabis is outlawed in the Philippines.

Authorities were also investigating whether the Malaysian had links with international terrorists or criminal syndicates. (Mindanao Examiner)