The Philippine Star

Where to get dirt-cheap drugs? Try law enforcers

- By AIE BALAGTAS SEE

The illegal drug trade in the country has been so rampant that the cheapest shabu in the market is sold by police officers and other law enforcers, the group Anti-Drug Advocate ADA said yesterday.

Shabu metampheta­mine hydrochlor­ide or the “poor man’s cocaine” used to be sold at P35,000 per five grams in 2012, but you can now get it at P5,000 per five grams, ADA’s Jonathan Morales said.

“You should have a police officer or law enforcer as a contact. If you get it from them, you’ll get a big discount,” he said.

Morales revealed this as the government investigat­ion deepens into the “link diagram” that Chief Inspector lmer Santiago drew before he was killed in an ambush allegedly perpetrate­d by his classmates at the Philippine ational Police Academy Class 1996.

The one-page diagram showed nine police officials and 22 non-commission­ed police officers as among those involved in an illegal drug ring syndicate in Bataan and Subic, ambales.

The officials, mostly Santiago’s classmates, were allegedly working with drug lords detained at the ew Bilibid Prison. Investigat­ors said they are looking into reports that Amin Imam Boratong – convicted for running a shabu “flea market” in Pasig City – is among those drug lords.

Dramatic drop

Morales, a former policeman and an informant of the Philippine Drug nforcement Agency, said the price of shabu has dramatical­ly gone down since 2012.

He also noted that internatio­nal drug syndicates like the Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel, have also penetrated the Philippine­s and are easily plying their trade.

Morales said the trend is alarming, as based on their research, law enforcers are now the biggest drug trafficker­s in the country.

“Where else can you see officers of the law, whom you should approach for help, selling drugs ” he said.

The law enforcer’s P5,000-per-five-gram price is P3,000 cheaper than the shabu sold by Chinese or Muslim drug lords “because they don’t have to have capital,” according to Morales.

Recycling

There are several ways a police officer moonlighti­ng as an illegal drug trafficker can sell shabu at a very low price, according to Morales. One of them is through “D D D literally, grabbing rocks ,” D being a local slang for shabu.

“This is when they arrest you, get your shabu then sell it themselves,” Morales said.

aw enforcers can also befriend drug lords and their middlemen instead of filing cases against them. These people eventually would become the law enforcers’ supplier, he said.

Dante Jimene , head of olunteers Against Crime and Corruption ACC , echoed Morales’ call.

“Heads should roll. The number of drug lords in this country doubled. This government practicall­y failed in its anti drug campaign,” Jimene said. The ACC and ADA are working together in seeking ustice for Santiago.

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