Seizures of “shabu” or methamphetamine hydrochloride have reached record highs this year, as the market for the illegal drug continues to expand in Southeast Asia despite the drug campaigns launched by the Philippines and its neighbors, a United Nations body said on Thursday.
“Despite noble efforts of national authorities in the region, organized crime groups continue to find ways to the market demand, which does not show any decreasing trend,” the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) told parliamentarians from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).
UNODC gave its report during the meeting of the fact-finding committee of the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, which gathered in Manila to discuss regional cooperation in combating the drug menace.
Among the highlights of the meeting was the presentation of the Philippines’ country report on President Duterte’s war on drugs, which has claimed the lives of thousands of people in police operations and vigilante-style attacks since 2016.
In a report presented by Deputy Speaker Raneo Abu, the Philippines boasted of a “substantial drop” in the narcotics trade as well as the crime rate in the wake of Mr. Duterte’s war on drugs. The country cited the dismantling of nine illegal drug laboratories and seizure of about P13 billion worth of shabu.
Despite such efforts, the problem remains widespread, the UN body said in its own report, the details of which were quoted in a House news release.
“Both the number and the scale of illicit methamphetamine manufacturing facilities continue to increase to meet the rapidly rising demand for methamphetamine in the region,” UNODC said.
“Substantial quantities of precursor chemicals, which can be used for the manufacture of methamphetamine, have been seized in the region with recent trends indicating a diversification of precursors and methods used,” it said.
It stressed that methamphetamine and heroin remained two of the most traded narcotics in the region.
“Wide range of new synthetic drugs, often called as new psychoactive substances, have been identified in East and Southeast Asia in recent years,” the report stated.