PH named major drug money-laundering country

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines has been identified by the US Department of State as one of the 63 “major drug money-laundering countries” in the world.

In its 2011 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, the State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs said financial institutions in these countries “engage in currency transactions involving significant amounts of proceeds from international narcotics trafficking.”

Aside from the Philippines, other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on the list are Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Cambodia, and Myanmar (formerly Burma).

Also on the list are the following countries: Australia, Austria, Canada, China, Colombia, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Iran, India, Macau, Pakistan, the Netherlands, Russia, Somalia, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and the US, among others.

The report, which is posted on the website of the US Embassy in Manila, also identified the 20 “major illicit drug-producing or drug transit countries”: Afghanistan, Bahamas, Bolivia, Burma, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Laos, Mexico, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela.

The report also named the 15 “major sources of precursor or essential chemicals used in the production of illicit narcotics”: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Germany, India, Mexico, the Netherlands, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, UK, and the US.

Under the US Foreign Relations Authorization Act of 2003, President Barack Obama is required to “identify any country on the majors list to adhere to international counter-narcotics agreements and to take certain measures set forth in US law.”

“US assistance under the current Foreign Operations Appropriations Act may not be provided to any country designated as having failed demonstrably unless the President determines that the provision of such aid is vital to US national interests, or that the country—at any time after the President’s initial report to Congress—has made substantial efforts to comply with the counter-narcotics conditions in the legislation,” said the State Department.

According to the report, the Philippines “continues to face challenges in the areas of drug production, drug trafficking and internal drug consumption.”

It said the Manila government “takes drug trafficking and drug abuse seriously, and has made substantial efforts to address these problems.”

However, it pointed out that “lack of law enforcement resources, the slow pace of judicial and investigative reforms and lack of law enforcement inter-agency cooperation continue to hamper government efforts to investigate and prosecute higher echelons of drug trafficking organizations operating in the Philippines.”

“The primary drug threat faced by the Philippines continues to be the importation, manufacture and abuse of methamphetamine hydrochloride, also known as “shabu.” High-grade methamphetamine produced in other countries continues to be smuggled into the Philippines by transnational drug traffickers. In 2010, majority of the seized methamphetamine in the Philippines appeared to have been of foreign origin,” it said.

Citing Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency reports, the State Depart report said that from January to November 2010, “authorities seized 222 kilos of shabu, valued at $49 million; 1,988 kilos of processed marijuana worth $2.5 million; 17.1 million marijuana plants and seedlings, valued at $75.9 million; 584 kilos of cocaine worth $61.9 million.”

They also “dismantled seven clandestine drug laboratories, eradicated 196 marijuana plantations and arrested 6,435 individuals for drug-related offenses.”

“By comparison, in 2009 Philippine authorities seized $167.1 million in narcotics, dismantled nine laboratories and three warehouses, eradicated 187 marijuana plantations, and arrested 9,052 persons for drug-related offenses,” said the Stat Department report.

Last year, “no ‘super laboratories’ were detected. Transnational criminal groups have apparently moved to establish smaller-scale clandestine shabu laboratories that are easier to conceal.”

The report also said “numerous arrests in South America and Asia in 2010 showed an increasing trend of Philippine citizens acting as drug couriers employed by international drug syndicates.”

Filipino drug mules “typically carried drugs from South America to Asia although the drugs were generally not destined for the Philippines. As of Aug. 2010, 626 Filipinos had been arrested for drug trafficking offenses in other countries.”

Last year, “lack of judicial reforms and slow progress in drug cases continued a trend of very low conviction rates for drug cases” here.

Citing the Dangerous Drugs Board, the State Department reported that “8 percent of drug cases are dismissed before going trial, 7 percent result in conviction, 8 percent result in acquittal, while 76 percent remain unresolved.”

“Drug cases are often dismissed due to technicalities, such as irregularity or illegality of arrest, non-appearance of witnesses, inconsistent testimonies of witnesses, mishandling of evidence, and unreliable police laboratories,” it said.

Drug smuggling through the country’s international airports “remains a problem,” said the report, noting “the majority of smugglers arrested were Malaysians, Koreans and Chinese.”

The report also said that “throughout 2010, cocaine from the 1.9-ton shipment jettisoned in waters off the Samar coast (in Dec. 2009) continued to surface and has reached Metro Manila, Northern Luzon and Mindanao.”

“It is likely that drug traffickers have hidden caches from which they are supplying local drug dealers. Although provincial authorities do not possess the necessary assets to exercise control over provincial shores, local leaders have learned with law enforcement agencies like the Philippine Coast Guard and the PNP Maritime Police to increase monitoring of coastal areas,” it added.