PNP: ‘Shabu’ price increased due to war on drugs

Senior Supt. Albert Ignatius Ferro (right), PNP-AIDG chief, with (from left) PDEA chief Isidro Lapeña and PNP chief Director General Ronald de la Rosa (Photo from the PNP Facebook page)

The price of “shabu” (metamphetamine hydrochloride) has significantly increased since President Duterte’s administration started its brutal war against drugs through the Philippine National Police’s “Oplan Double Barrel.”

The chief of the PNP’s anti-illegal drugs unit said that from P2 million, the price of shabu per kilogram went up to P5 million because the supply of drugs in the country has become scarce.

“Now in our buy bust operations, we need to have at least P5 million as show money,” Chief Supt. Albert Ferro, PNP Anti-Illegal Drugs Group chief, said in a press briefing at Camp Crame on Wednesday.

The PNP has been in the frontline of President Duterte’s war against drugs. The 160,000-strong police force however is being hounded by criticisms as the number of deaths amid the drug war rose to nearly 6,000 in six months.

PNP chief Director General Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa said the PNP wants the country to be drug-free by the end of 2017. Duterte however vowed to rid the country of drugs within six months since July but fell short of his promise.

“I do believe in him to have the objective accomplished by the year ends. Panawagan ko sa ating mga kababayan huwag po tayo mawalan ng pag-asa. Hindi naman lahat sa laban ay gains. There are some challenges and we will face it,” he said.

Ferro, who also hails from Davao, said that if Duterte did not become President, the Philippines “could have been a narco-state.” JE