ILOILO City – Drug users nowadays are shifting to marijuana as the methamphetamine hydrochloride, popularly known as shabu, is getting more expensive.
This was the assessment of Iloilo Police Provincial Office director Police Colonel Gilbert Gorero, citing previous arrests of drug pushers who yielded dried marijuana leaves.
“Due to the pandemic, drug users are shifting to marijuana that only costs around P150 to P200 per stick,” Gorero said.
Yesterday, four individuals were arrested in a buy-bust operation in Barangay Aganan, Pavia, Iloilo.
Marc John Wendam, 27; Jelgan Catalan, 27; Darius Dela Cruz, 24; and Jem Ligacion, 28, were all newly-identified drug pushers, according to Pavia police chief Major Jojo Tabaloc.
Recovered from their possession were about a kilo of dried marijuana leaves valued at around P150,000.
The cultivation and use of marijuana is illegal under Republic Act (RA) 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
As the Philippines is a signatory to the 1961 United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, marijuana is classified as a Schedule I drug, which limits its use to medical and scientific purposes.
According to Tabaloc, a police asset initially bought from the suspects a sachet. The P3,000 buy-bust money was also recovered.
The suspects were subjected to two weeks of surveillance prior to the operation, Tabaloc said.
They were detained in the lockup cell of the municipal police station, facing charges for violation of Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002./PN
