‘Crame was center of drug trade in ’98&#

Camp Crame, headquarters of the Philippine National Police, was the country’s center of drug trafficking in 1998 and the highest ranking PNP officials were directly involved in drug trafficking themselves, a former police "asset" said yesterday.

At a Senate hearing on allegations against Sen. Panfilo Lacson, former undercover police agent Mary "Rosebud" Ong claimed Lacson and police Director Reynaldo Acop were the principal drug traffickers.

But Acop denied Ong’s allegation and said her testimony was only part of a "demolition job."

"Let us put a stop to this drama once and for all. We should just face each other to clear this issue once and for all," said Acop, who branded Ong as a liar and double agent.

Ong accused Acop and other police officials of purchasing methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu from a Hong Kong triad and remitting the payment through the underground "Binondo Central Bank."

Meanwhile, Justice Secretary Hernando Perez said he expects to get confirmation on Lacson’s alleged bank accounts in the United States by the US Attorney General not later than September.

"Once we get the confirmation, everything is finished," Perez said.

Claiming that part of the funds that Lacson allegedly laundered in US banks were supposedly from drug trafficking activities, Ong disclosed details of a drug shipment called "Oplan Athena II" involving the Hong Kong triad and top PNP officials.

Ong claimed to have been an undercover agent of the Philippine National Police Narcotics Group and later of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force, which was headed by Lacson who was concurrent PNP chief.

She said that police officers sold 108 kilos of shabu every three weeks and that the total drug shipment from Hong Kong could be worth P72 billion on the street at 8,000 kilos a month.

Of the P72 billion, she said some P24 billion was retained by the policemen while the bulk was remitted to Hong Kong.

She showed a "blue book" showing that one police officer alone sold 800 kilos of shabu in October and November 1998.

She said she would submit documentary evidence in next week’s hearing to support her accusations.

Atong Ang tagged in kidnapping ring

Also yesterday, Indian businessman Dharm "Danny" Devnani filed a sworn statement to the Senate panel and claimed that suspected gambling lord Charlie "Atong" Ang, a crony of jailed former President Joseph Estrada, was directly involved in kidnapping for ransom.

Devnani did not make an oral testimony but he claimed in his sworn statement that Ang asked him to engage in kidnapping for ransom sometime in February or March 1996 at Club 419 in San Juan.

"Alam mo, Dan, malapit na ang elections (You know, Dan, the elections are near) and Erap is running for president. Kailangan ng pera (Money is needed)," Devnani quoted Ang as saying.

He added that Ang approached him again in October or November 1996, seeking his cooperation with their kidnap-for-ransom activities but he rejected this anew.

He claimed he suspected Ang was involved when a rich friend called him up and said his brother had been kidnapped.

"I had a feeling Atong had a hand in this so I called up Atong and asked him if he was behind the kidnappings. Atong just laughed," Devnani said in his affidavit.

He claimed that Ang asked him to serve as negotiator and there was haggling for the ransom from $2 million to P30 million. The victim’s brother, however, was able to raise only P27 million so Ang lent the brother the balance of P3 million.

Oplan Athena II

In October 1998, Ong disclosed Acop staged a sting operation, called Athena II, which was supposed to catch the drug traffickers involved with a Hong Kong triad.

Ong presented a photocopy of a United Coconut Planters Bank check for P2 million, dated Oct. 10, 1998, which was signed by Acop and supposedly "show money" for a drug shipment from Hong Kong.

They also requested a 20 to 30 kilo sample of the shabu before proceeding with the shipment.

However, Ong said she failed to encash the check because it was a weekend and returned the check to Acop. Instead, Superintendent Francisco Roman gave her the P2 million in cash, contained in an envelope that had the word "Magbuhos" written on it.

She said she remitted the P2 million though the Binondo CB and the narcotics were later delivered at the parking lot of a hotel in Malate, Manila.

Ong said the triad representative asked her for the keys to a car where they loaded the shabu and left. But, Ong claimed, the drugs were passed on to a police officer assigned at the Narcom detention center at Camp Crame in Quezon City.

The unidentified police officer would then sell the substances to Chinese or Filipino-Chinese individuals who were detained on illegal drug charges, who in turn would hire some other police officers to become their "delivery boys."

Ong said the payments were made through banks and that the profits were split among Acop, Lacson and her former boyfriend Superintendent John Campos.

Ong broke into tears when asked to name other generals involved in drug trafficking and their Hong Kong triad contacts. She vowed to do so in an executive session.

Rosebud said the payments and the profits were coursed through the Binondo CB, an informal currency spot market based in Manila’s Chinese district.

She claimed to have been part of the Binondo CB at one time and was in charge of the couriers who would smuggle dollars out of the country to Hong Kong.

To pay for the narcotics, she explained she would simply telephone the Binondo CB and she would be given an account number in a bank where she could deposit the payment for the narcotics.

A surprised Sen. Joker Arroyo said he had thought the Binondo CB was no longer operational after the government eased restrictions on dollar transactions in 1986.

But the former police agent said the Binondo CB has been continuously operational and is still frequently used by businessmen to get foreign exchange for transactions they cannot course through the banking system or for currency speculation.

‘A liar and double agent’

But Acop and Villaroman dismissed Ong’s testimony as mere fabrications and said they are ready to face Ong in the Senate to prove that she was actually lying under oath.

Villaroman showed Camp Crame reporters a flow chart named "United Macao-HK pipeline" that Ong failed to help accomplish during her supposed stint as agent in the project operation "Athena."

"She is a liar and a double agent. This all stemmed from Ong’s conflict with Superintendent John Campos," Villaroman said.

But Acop admitted he was a friend of Kamsin "Kim" Wong, whom Rosebud accused of being the principal link of the Hong Kong triad in the country.

"I consider him a friend. I am not afraid to say that he is a friend," Acop said, claiming that Wong was only dragged into the scandal because he contributed heavily to Lacson’s senatorial campaign.

According to Acop, the Intelligence Service of the Armed Force of the Philippines (ISAFP), which first exposed Lacson’s supposed drug connection, is only employing a tactic it had used before.

He recalled that ISAFP also implicated then Senators Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Nikki Coseteng and Alberto Romulo to illegal drugs.

"Their names were just placed by the ISAFP to link them to the charges against Alfredo Tiongco through (former PO1 Reynaldo) Pareña," he said.

But Acop reiterated President Arroyo never had any links with drug syndicates.

"Style nila iyan (That is their style). It is a demolition job," he added.

Both Acop and Villaroman said ISAFP chief Col. Victor Corpus is just being used to discredit potential presidential candidates in 2004, including Lacson.

"I believe in the crusade of Col. Corpus but he seems to be manipulated to suit the political ambitions of certain political groups," Acop said.