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Police say tricks used by syndicates make it difficult for port authorities to detect where the supplies of shabu are being stashed when transported via roll-on/roll-off vessels
BACOLOD, Philippines – Up to 12 kilograms of shabu (methamphetamine) are being smuggled into Panay Island and the Negros Island Region every month, according to a report from the Negros Occidental Provincial and City Law Enforcement Coordinating Committee (PCLECC).
Colonel Rainerio de Chavez, director of the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (NOCPPO), told Rappler on Monday, October 21, that the illegal drug trade remains a lucrative business in the Western Visayas and Negros Island regions.
He said that, based on reliable information obtained through confessions from arrested suspects, up to 12 kilograms of shabu from Luzon, including Manila, enter Panay via the Caticlan port in the town of Aklan each month.
From Caticlan, the drugs pass through Roxas Port in Capiz to Dumangas Port in Iloilo, and finally to Bredco Port in Bacolod.
Chavez explained that when the route through Caticlan Port is inaccessible, drug syndicates opt to smuggle the drugs through Cebu via San Carlos Port in Negros Occidental or Dumaguete Port in Negros Oriental. Among the new suspected drug trade routes is the Bay-ang Port in Ajuy, Iloilo, to Manta-angan Port in Enrique B. Magalona town, Negros Occidental.
Of the 12 kilograms of shabu entering Panay each month, two kilograms are directed to Bacolod and other parts of Negros Island, De Chavez said, citing an intelligence report from the PCLECC.
The PCLECC is a task force composed of members from the Philippine National Police (PNP), Maritime authorities, Coast Guard, and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) on Negros Island.
At present, shabu is priced at P6.8 million per kilogram, but it costs P23 million when retailed at P700 per gram or sachet.
Tricks and challenges
De Chavez, along with Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) director Colonel Joeresty Coronica, acknowledged that shabu remains the biggest challenge for them.
According to Coronica, syndicates use various tactics that make it difficult for port authorities to detect where the shabu is hidden when transported via roll-on/roll-off (roro) vessels.
“Even K-9 dogs have limitations in their sniffing capabilities, which only last 30 minutes. Beyond that, they are no longer capable of detecting the illegal drugs,” Coronica said.
Because of these challenges, Coronica said authorities must stay persistent and aggressive in their anti-drug operations in Bacolod.
Recently, authorities confiscated around P35 million worth of suspected shabu from various suspects in raids conducted by the Bacolod City Police’s City Drug Enforcement Unit (BCPO-CDEU) between October 12 and October 20.
The biggest catch this month occurred during the arrest of Darel Demafiles at Purok Masinadyahon, Barangay 12 in Bacolod City, on October 17. Amid the celebration of the seventh day of the MassKara Festival, a kilogram of shabu worth P23 million was seized from Demafiles, a scatter game agent-turned-shabu peddler.
In other parts of Western Visayas, authorities in Iloilo City arrested 22 drug suspects with a total haul of shabu worth P11.832 million between October 15 and 21. In Aklan and Iloilo Province, 12 suspects were arrested for carrying shabu worth P5.038 million. – Rappler.com
