MANILA, Philippines – Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) chief Director General Aaron Aquino on Thursday said that ‘Strawberry Quick’ crystal meth, a candy-like party drug has not reached the country.
Aquino made the assurance after a teenage girl died from alleged overdose of the said drug during the recent Sinulog festival in Cebu City.
“Sa Pilipinas wala pa naman tayong nagkaroon ng ganyan (In the Philippines we don’t have that kind of drug),” Aquino told Radyo Inquirer.
“As far as PDEA is concerned, wala pa kaming na-seize [na ganoon], and even I think [in operations of] the Philippine National Police and other law enforcement agencies, wala pa talagang lumabas na Strawberry Quick,” he said.
(As far as the PDEA is concerned, we have not seized that kind of drug, and even I think in operations of the Philippine National Police and other law enforcement agencies, there was no recovered Strawberry Quick.)
According to Aquino, ‘Strawberry Quick’ is allegedly being used to lure teenagers into flavored illegal drugs in some countries.
He also pushed for an autopsy of the teenage victim to identify which chemical she supposedly took that led to her death./gsg