Quezon drug users trade guns for shabu

LUCENA CITY, Quezon, Philippines—Illegal drug users in the central part of Quezon province are now trading guns for shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride), according to police.

Senior Superintendent Ronaldo Genaro Ylagan, Quezon police chief, said on Wednesday they made this discovery after members of the Quezon Police Public Safety Company (QPPSC) based in Candelaria town raided the safehouse of drug trader Rosendo Pineda Pingol Jr., 51, in Barangay (village) Lusacan in nearby Tiaong town.

Armed with a search warrant, police operatives found several firearms: one M-16 baby Armalite rifle, three .45 pistols, and five magazines for an M-16 rifle, five magazines for a .45 pistol and close to 200 rounds of ammunition.

The raid also yielded at least eight sealed plastic sachets that contained a crystal substance suspected to be shabu, a digital weighing scale and several paraphernalia used in the illegal drug trade.

During interrogation, Pingol allegedly admitted that some of the confiscated guns belonged to the clients of his illegal drug business.

“The confiscated guns are all illegal. And some of it were just pawned to the suspect by drug users. That’s what he (Pingol) told us,” Superintendent Rancer Evasco, QPPSC head, said in a phone interview Thursday.

He tagged Pingol as one of the big-time drug pushers in central Quezon, particularly in the towns of Tiaong and Candelaria.

Pingol is still being investigated at the QPPSC headquarters in Candelaria.

Ylagan said the police forces would continue to add more teeth to their campaign against illegal drugs.

Early this month, the Quezon police launched the “ABKD” (Ating Barkada Laban sa Droga) drug program, which aims to foster closer partnership with the community, particularly students and out-of-school youth, to combat the proliferation of illegal drugs. SFM