Flavored ‘shabu’ emerges as an act of defiance vs Duterte

MANGALDAN, Pangasinan—Drug peddlers are now selling flavored “shabu” (metamphetamine hydrochloride), despite the emergence of what promises to be a brutal campaign against drugs through the incoming administration of presumptive President-elect Rodrigo Duterte.

A man was arrested on Friday peddling 10 sachets of pandan-flavored shabu in a buy-bust operation in Dagupan City, said Supt. Benjamin Ariola, Mangaldan police chief.

Barry Sacayacay, 33, a photographer from Taguig City, was the first suspect caught selling the flavored shabu in Pangasinan, Ariola said. “This is scary because we do not know what harmful side effects this flavored shabu could inflict on drug users,” Ariola said.

Sacayacay was arrested after he accepted P500 as payment for a sachet of the pandan-flavored shabu, Ariola said.

Sacayacay was also carrying a small bottle containing liquid that was supposedly also flavored, and plastic tubes used to inhale shabu.

Ariola said investigators were trying to determine the source of the flavored shabu. “We are also trying to find out the extent of distribution of the flavored shabu in the province,” he said.

Last week, the National Bureau of Investigation announced the seizure of two sachets of colored shabu, which were labeled as “Green and Blue Meth,” in Pandi town, Bulacan province. The shabu was supposed to be higher in grade and more expensive than the white crystalline shabu.

Some Pangasinan towns and cities have been identified as transshipment points for illegal drugs. In 2014, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency reported that 96 of the province’s 1,364 villages were “drug affected.” Gabriel Cardinoza, Inquirer Northern Luzon