MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines ranks fifth in the world in terms of methamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu) seizures in the last 10 years and has remained a significant source of the illegal drug, according to the 2009 World Drug Report released recently by the United Nations.

The 314-page report written by the newly created UN Office on Drugs and Crimes (Undoc) and released in Washington DC on June 24, said the Philippines come after China, the United States, Thailand and Taiwan in terms of shabu seizures from 1998 to 2007.

“The Philippines remains a significant source of high potency crystalline methamphetamine used both domestically and exported to locations in East and Southeast Asia and Oceania,” the report said.

It said that while many countries manufactured shabu, China, Burma (Myanmar) and the Philippines accounted for most of the production.

The report noted that the illegal drug was often manufactured in industrial-size laboratories operated by transnational organized crime syndicates and staffed by foreign chemists.

Result of success

But a Malacañang official said Saturday the branding of the Philippines as a top producer of shabu stemmed from its law enforcement agencies’ successes in dismantling illegal drug operations and clandestine laboratories in the country.

Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said it was “ironic” that the numerous inroads made by the government in curbing the illegal drug trade had earned it the tag of leading manufacturer of shabu by a UN agency.

“The irony of it is that the basis for that conclusion are the accomplishments of our Philippine drug enforcement agencies,” Remonde said in an interview over state-run Radyo ng Bayan.

Seizures on rise

The UN report said that in 2007, a notable increase in the seizure of methamphetamine-related manufacturing facilities in the Philippines was reported with nine significant laboratories and 13 chemical warehouses seized. This rose to 10 laboratories in 2008.

China, on the other hand, accounted for majority of methamphetamine laboratories raided in East and Southeast Asia.

The report also identified interregional trafficking routes as being from Burma to Bangladesh and India; from Hong Kong, China, to Australia, Indonesia, Japan and New Zealand; from the Philippines to Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the US; and from East and Southeast Asia to Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

The 2009 report said that global markets for cocaine, opiates and cannabis were steady or in decline, while the production and use of synthetic drugs was increasing in the developing world.

Cannabis or marijuana remained the most widely used drug around the world, although estimates were less precise.