USDEA inspects RP coastlines

A seven-man team from the United States-Drug Enforcement Agency has started to conduct a "needs assessment" mission in the country to determine the capability of the local authorities to monitor drug shipments through the country’s vast shorelines.

According to Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) director Undersecretary Anselmo Avenido, the team is conducting the assessment to identify the "needs" of the agency, which will be the basis of the assistance package which the US government plans to give the PDEA.

"They are here to conduct a needs assessment which is a routine before they give us assistance. We are still in the preliminaries," he said.

Avenido said the team led by Mark Connell will be touring various areas nationwide for the "assessment" of the various shorelines in coordination with the other agencies of the government, including the Philippine Coastguard, Maritime Group and the Philippine Navy. Avenido said the inspection, expected to last two weeks, is aimed to enhance the "continuing relationship" between the PDEA and the US-DEA.

Avenido did not mention the component of the US team but said they are part of a "joint inter-agency task force," whose members paid a courtesy call on Wednesday afternoon at the PDEA headquarters at Camp Crame. Matters on the "interdiction of drugs at sea" were also discussed during last Wednesday’s conference.

The visit came following news reports (not by The STAR) that the Philippines have been tagged as a "major exporter" of illegal drugs particularly shabu and marijuana recently. Avenido denied the report which he claimed was lifted from the website of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). "No, the country is not blacklisted by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for drug-trafficking," he said.