‘Pushers’ getting desperate

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BY RUBY P. SILUBRICO
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Sunday, December 18, 2016
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ILOILO City – The punitive campaign against illegal drugs have apparently constricted the supply of shabu in Western Visayas, forcing pushers to fake the prohibited drug just to make money.
According to Chief Superintendent Jose Gentiles, regional police director, some desperate drug pushers are tricking users into buying what is actually tawas (alum).
The untrained eye may mistake tawas for shabu because it is also powdery white like the dangerous drug, said Gentiles.
Tawas is a salt crystal more popularly used as a deodorant and astringent. There are other uses for this substance that found its niche in folkloric medicine.
Other drug pushers mix shabu with tawas, Gentiles revealed.
“Shabu is becoming scarce. Because of our relentless campaign drug traders or manufacturers now sell adulterated stuff,” Gentiles told Panay News.
Due to the supply drop, shabu’s price has also skyrocketed – between P10,000 to P15,000 per gram now from a low of P8,000 per gram, revealed the police general.
But more than the prohibitive cost, drug users must be wary of the ill-effects of snorting tawas-laced shabu, said Gentiles.
“So better stop using shabu altogether,” he stressed.
In recent years, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) confirmed that some drug pushers mixed shabu with crushed tawas or naphthalene balls (used as fumigant pesticide).
While shabu damages the central nervous system, adulterated shabu could also lead to respiratory tract irritation, headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, blood in the urine, jaundice, and kidney or liver damage, said PDEA.
Meanwhile, Gentiles agreed with the assessment of PDEA that drug trafficking in Region 6 had been crippled.
“Yes, I agree…because of the arrest of some high-value targets. Pero hindi natin ‘yan ma-zero kasi may mga remaining personalities pa tayong huhulihin,” he said.
Following the arrest of the three sons of slain suspected drug lord Melvin Odicta Sr., Deputy Regional Director Levi Ortiz claimed they have dismantled the Odicta drug group.
He also asserted that the Prevendido drug group now exists only in name even if PDEA or police has yet to arrest suspected drug lord Richard Prevendido.
“Nag i-exist na lang sila sa pangalan kasi lahat sila (identified members) may pending warrants of arrest at si Bonie (Prevendido Gregori) nahuli na. Paano pa sila makapagpalawak ng negosyo kapag on the run sila,” said Ortiz.
Gentiles gave his men until the end of this year to arrest Prevendido./PN
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