When ‘shabu’ traffickers have a way with words

Can you find “shabu” in the dictionary? Antinarcotics agents just did.

A dictionary that was about to be shipped to Adelaide, Australia, yielded a sachet of methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu that was tucked between its pages. The discovery was made Monday at a courier service office in Pasay City.

According to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), the intercepted package originated from BF Homes in Parañaque City, and the sender and consignee—whose names were withheld—are now the subject of investigation.

Authorities were earlier alerted to the suspicious-looking item by an international express courier company. “When the package passed through the X-ray machine, the operator noticed the presence of organic material inside the book,” according to PDEA Director General Arturo Cacdac Jr.

Members of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport-Interagency Drug Interdiction Task Group came over and found in between the pages a packet containing 10 grams of shabu with an estimated street value of P50,000, the PDEA said. Julie M. Aurelio