Philippines: August 4, 2002

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 Shifting special forces troops to anti-crime and corruption duties is paying off. In the last few days, major criminal gangs, and even a gang of police led by a senior officer, have been arrested. Police have long been suspected as participating in kidnapping for ransom. The operations in the south against Abu Sayyaf involved some of the same tactics (working with a sometimes hostile local population to track down the gangs.)