FBI Chief Meets Philippines Leader
.c The Associated Press
MANILA, Philippines (AP) - FBI Director Louis J. Freeh held talks Saturday with President Joseph Estrada on increasing cooperation between U.S. and Philippine law enforcement agencies.
The FBI chief said he and Estrada discussed laws to combat racketeering in the Philippines, allow electronic surveillance, seize assets of suspected drug dealers and stop money laundering.
''Those are the tools that would be very helpful in fighting organized crime, in fighting drug trafficking, and we rely on them very much in the United States,'' Freeh said.
Freeh also said he won ''personal assurances'' from Estrada that the Philippine government would promptly deport Filipino businessman Mark Jimenez once the extradition is approved by Philippine courts.
Jimenez, a close friend of Estrada, is wanted in the United States for tax evasion, wire fraud, conspiracy and illegal campaign contributions to President Bill Clinton.
Philippine police on Saturday also announced their biggest drug bust ever. Four Chinese men were arrested and 926 pounds of stimulants seized, officials said.
Authorities discovered 13 plastic barrels containing $21 million worth of methamphetamine hydrochloride in the town of Infanta on Friday, said Police Director Jewel Canson.
Freeh thanked Estrada for Manila's help in the arrest and prosecution of Ramzi Yousef, the convicted mastermind of the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York.
Freeh, the first FBI director to visit the Philippines, is on a five-nation tour of Asia. He has visited Japan and is scheduled to visit Singapore on Sunday before going to Thailand and South Korea, where he will attend the Interpol convention.
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