US help sought in shutting down supply route of Ecstasy pills

The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) sought the help of the US Drug Enforcement Agency (US-DEA) and its local counterpart, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in shutting down the supply route of smuggled Ecstasy pills in the country.

NCRPO chief Deputy Director General Reynaldo Velasco will sit down with top officials of the US-DEA and the PDEA any-time this week to confront the growing problem not only in Metro Manila but all over the country.

Velasco is hoping that the US-DEA would deal with the Corinthian Boys’supplier from abroad while the PDEA would plug the holes in the local front.

"We have no capability to go after the gang’s supplier abroad and also have no authority to deal with them locally so we badly need the help of the two drug agencies," Velasco explained.

In May, five members of the so-called Corinthian Boys, including their alleged leader Jerome Magno, 38, were arrested. They yielded 472 pieces of Ecstasy pills with an estimated street value of P708,000.

Magno and Paulo de Asis, 25, remained in jail after the Quezon City prosecutor’s office recommended no bail. The three others were released from jail.

During tactical interrogation, Magno and his cohorts cooperated fully with investigators saying they received their Ecstasy supply from the Netherlands through the mailing system.

They boasted that despite their arrest, the gang continues to peddle Ecstasy through their more or less 20 couriers, who are also scions of prominent families in Metro Manila. But this time, their Ecstasy supply are coming from the US and European countries.

Magno told Superintendent Nicolas Gregorio, head of the Police Anti-Crime Emergency Response (PACER) of the NCRPO, that their clients were socialites, wealthy students and movie personalities.

Velasco formed a six-man team to conduct surveillance operations against the Corinthian Boys’ couriers, whose identities were leaked by their leaders to Gregorio.

"My men are presently in the streets. We expect to make arrests anytime from now," Velasco said.