Agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) announced on Saturday the arrest of two members of a West African drug syndicate following a buy-bust operation in Bacoor, Cavite.
In a press conference, PDEA Director General Aaron Aquino identified the suspects as Agu Austin Chukwuebuka and Nkwocha Chimaobi, who were tagged as members of an international drug ring based in West Africa.
PDEA chief Aaron Aquino interrogates West African Agu Austin Chukwuebuka and Nkwocha Chimaobi following their arrest for drug trafficking. INQUIRER.net / Ryan Leagogo
Aquino said that the suspects were arrested during a buy-bust operation in Cavite on March 9. Joining the operation were members of a joint team from the PDEA Special Enforcement Service, PDEA Region IV-A, and PDEA Region V.
The PDEA initially seized 11 sachets of suspected shabu weighing more than 500 grams and estimated to have a street value of P2.5 million. However, upon further examination, PDEA said that only two sachets contain shabu, weighing 98 grams worth P500,000.
The nine other sachets, Aquino said, contain Isoprophyl Benzylamine, “a chemical compound used as a precursor or base ingredient in manufacturing drugs.”
“So in short, pinapadami lang, dinadaya. So kung sino yung mga kliyente nila, dinadaya nila,” Aquino said during the press conference.
(They are just multiplying the contents, diluting them. So, whoever their clients were, the suspects are shortchanging them.)
“So pinapadami lang nila yung kanilang supply, when in fact, kokonti lang pala (They are just multiplying their supply when in fact the shabu content is just minimal),” he added.
The PDEA director also disclosed that the sale of marijuana is getting rampant once again in the country given the low supply of shabu.
“Ang marijuana po ay bumabalik na naman sa market, lumalakas na naman,” Aquino said.
(Marijuana is making a comeback in the market, it is getting briskly once more.)
“Why? because the supply of shabu is very limited. So this happened once na ang shabu ay bumaba ang supply, bumabalik na naman ang tao sa paggamit ng marijuana (the supply of shabu is dwindling so people are returning to the use of marijuana),” he explained.
A number of cellphone chargers used to hide shabu during its distribution were also confiscated during the operation. /jpv
RELATED STORY
PDEA aims for 24,000 villages cleared of drugs by 2022