The price of shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride) went up by 400 percent as a result of authorities’ intensified campaign against the use of the illegal substance, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said Sunday.
PDEA Director General Dionisio Santiago said from P1.5 million per kilogram, shabu prices shot up to P6 million a kilo because of short supply of the illegal drug.
Santiago attributed this to the agency’s series of raids on shabu dens across the country.
He however said much still has to be done. He said that high shabu prices did not deter its users from buying the drug.
He said shabu users have a new modus operandi. He said they now deposit their payment to the bank account of the drug dealers to avoid getting caught.
Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption meanwhile said that drug pushers are now training children 15 years and below to peddle the illegal drug on the streets.
Ron Gagalac, ABS-CBN News