By Anthony Vargas/Manila Times
The police have asked the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to help identify and locate the assets of George Torres, the Filipino-American member of the Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel that tried to gain a foothold in the country last year.
Philippine National Police Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force (PNP AID-SOTF) spokesman Chief Insp. Roque Merdeguia said they had requested the AMLC to investigate Torres.
“We suspect he has properties here and we’re asking the help of AMLC to have this investigated,” Roque said.
The PNP AID-SOTF spokesman said Torres could own condominium units or houses here.
Torres, who holds a US passport, leased a portion of the LPL ranch owned by the Levistes in Lipa City, Batangas, which was used by the group as a storage area for their illegal drugs.
The ranch was raided on Christmas Day and 84 kilos of high-grade methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu with an estimated street value of P420mn recovered.
Three persons were arrested during the raid, including Torres’ partner, Gary Tan, who police said was a big-time illegal drug trafficker in Metro Manila and outlying regions.
Police officials said Torres and Tan love cockfighting, which could also be the reason why they rented a fowl-farm in Batangas.
Merdeguia said they submitted the names of suspected members of the Sinaloa drug cartel to Sen. Grace Poe-Lamanzares, chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs.
“We are tracking them and hope that they are still here,” Merdeguia said.
To dissuade foreign drug traffickers from setting up operations in the country, a measure that imposes death penalty on foreigners found guilty of drug trafficking here was approved at the committee level at the House of Representatives.
House Bill 1213, authored by brothers Rep. Rufus Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro City and Rep. Maximo Rodriguez of Abante Mindanao party-list, seeks to penalise foreigners guilty of drug trafficking with death. The measure was approved by the Committee on Dangerous Drugs before Christmas. It is set to be tackled on second reading at the plenary when Congress resumes on January 20.
“Many foreign nationals are now emboldened to establish their drug factories in the Philippines because once convicted, they only suffer life imprisonment as opposed to the penalties that they may suffer in their countries, which in some cases is death,” the lawmakers said in the bill’s explanatory note.
They lamented the “unfair” situation of Filipinos found guilty of drug trafficking abroad. They said that while Chinese who are caught trading illegal drugs and operating drug laboratories in the Philippines only get life imprisonment, Filipinos found guilty of trafficking in China are given a death sentence.
“While there is no reason to question the laws of foreign countries, we must, however, ensure that our countrymen do not suffer the short end of the stick,” the Mindanao lawmakers said.
“As such, there is a need to amend our laws to ensure that foreign nationals caught violating our laws on drugs are also convicted of the harshest penalties that their national law imposes.”
The bill aims to amend Sec 31 of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Anti-Dangerous Drugs Act of 2003.
