PNP targets West African drug syndicate in PH

THE Philippine National Police (PNP) is looking into the activities of the West African Drug Syndicate (WADS) and other international drug syndicates in the country, Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina, PNP officer in charge, told reporters Wednesday.

Espina, together with officials of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), met with Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and discussed the drug trafficking problem as well as the case of Mary Jane Veloso, the Filipina sentenced to death in Indonesia for carrying 2.6 kilograms of heroin in her luggage.

“We are pooling our resources together so we can once and for all put an end to this drug syndicates…Heroin is very crime syndicate specific,” Espina said.

“It [heroin] is an international menace. Drug syndicates victimize our countrymen who became unwitting workers for these criminal syndicates,” he added.

Espina however refused to identify other international syndicates being targeted by the PNP.

“Let us see from the progress reports. We are still continuing our research operationally,” he said adding that currently their focus is on WADS.

When asked if authorities were already able to connect WADS to Veloso’s recruiters Maria Kristina Sergio and Julius Lacanilao, Espina said: “Very soon magkakaroon yan. We have to be definite.” AC