The Secretary General of the Asia-Pacific Information and Coordination Center for Combating Drug Crimes (APICC) recently visited the Philippines to strengthen the national campaign against illegal drugs in the regions as part of the implementation of “2015 Anti-Illegal Drugs Advocacy Project” of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, Republic of Korea (SPO-ROK).
During his visit, Secretary General Park Jae-Uck and the SPO-ROK delegation, with the assistance of the PDEA Academy, conducted a two-day training/workshop to the Regional Directors, drug enforcement officers and chemists of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Regional Offices 1, 2, 3, 4A, 4B and the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) on August 12 and 13, 2015 in Richmonde Hotel, San Miguel Avenue, Ortigas Center, Pasig City.
The SPO-ROK’s advocacy project also covered the donation of equipment and vehicles worth P2.7 million to boost PDEA’s operational capability in Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, CALABARZON, MIMAROPA Region and the Cordillera Region. The donated items include surveillance kits, laptops, split-type air conditioners, DSLR cameras, external hard drives, digital voice recorders, computers and motorcycles.
“PDEA greatly appreciates the generosity of APICC through the SPO-ROK, represented by Secretary General Park Jae-Uck to our Regional Offices in Luzon. We strongly believe that part of the vision of building a drug-free region would entail strong international cooperation with our neighbors in the Asia-Pacific,” Undersecretary Arturo G. Cacdac, Jr., the PDEA Director General, said.
The APICC is a regional drug control center for international cooperation wherein information on drug trends, successful investigation of cases and international drug traffickers are shared among anti-narcotic agencies of member countries composed of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Singapore, Republic of Korea, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines.
Posted By: Lynne Pingoy
