Police officials 'earned $470m from drugs'

Dishonest police officials earned an estimated P24 billion ($470 million) from sales of illegal drugs passed on to them by Hong Kong-based syndicates over the past three years, a former government agent told senators holding an inquiry on corruption allegations against former police chief Panfilo Lacson.

During her testimony at the Senate hearing yesterday, government informant, Mary Rose "Rosebud" Ong, said top police officials close to now Senator Lacson had turned the main police headquarters of Camp Crame in Manila into a virtual "distribution centre" where billions of pesos worth of the banned substance, methamphetamine hydrochloride, or "shabu", are being farmed out to a network of street dealers.

"Everything happens inside (Camp Crame)," she testified before members of the Senate joint committee holding the hearings.

Earlier, military intelligence chief, Col. Victor Corpus, told senators that the drugs were shipped into the country through various means by sea, through port and via packages that pass the airport.

Speaking before the combined committees of public order and illegal drugs, national defence, and blue ribbon, Corpus pointed out that for delivery through air, the drug syndicates use cartons that are passed through by low-ranking officials of the Bureau of Customs.

He said that that the syndicates had people in the airlines and Customs to help facilitate the drugs.

With regard to sea delivery, Corpus cited two methods: dropping the drugs off-shore and the syndicate then pulling the drugs out from the sea; and the second method was through the ports via container vans met by syndicate members upon arrival.

"These drugs come from manufacturing plants in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan," he said.

Ong said she had witnessed the PNP Narcotics Command (Narcom) buy illegal drugs from the Hong Kong drug triad and had taken part in two major deals in 1998.

Apart from dealing directly with the drug syndicates, Ong also said that certain police officials, including Narcom chief, Supt. Reynaldo Acop, had sold shipments confiscated from drug dealers.