Police crack down on Ecstacy pills

Following the seizure of some P1 million worth of "Ecstacy" pills from two college students in separate buy-bust operations last week, the National Drug Law Enforcement and Prevention Coordinating Center vowed yesterday to intensify its drive against the prohibited drug.

"This is the start of an intensive crackdown against the illicit trafficking of Ecstasy which is reportedly circulating in plush nightspots and other joints," said Director Jewel Canson, NDLEPCC executive director.

Canson ordered the crackdown following the arrest of two De La Salle University students nabbed after reportedly selling Ecstacy tablets to undercover police agents Saturday and Wednesday night.

However, Canson refused to identify the nightspots where Ecstacy is reportedly peddled pending the results of surveillance operations.

Suspect Edgar Pajaro, 19, and Richard Co (not Ley as earlier reported by police), 22, were arrested in Pasig and Mandaluyong, respectively with some 942 Ecstasy tablets in separate buy-bust operations.

Known scientifically as methylene dioxymethamphetamine, "Ecstacy" is a "designer drug" from the Netherlands which according to police is now fast becoming the top drug choice among rich teenagers frequenting posh disco houses and clubs in Makati and Quezon City.

Unlike shabu, police said that ecstacy, which costs at least P1,500 per tablet or capsule, gives its users a sensual or erotic high.

Ecstasy, also known as the "love pill" or the "jagged little pill" is also popular among teenagers in Europe and in the United States, police said.

According to Canson, it is only now that anti-narcotics police units in the Philippines are being trained to detect Ecstasy tablets.

Last November, Canson said, four experts from the Synthetic Drug Unit of the Netherlands police arrived in the country to train Filipino anti-drug units on Ecstasy detection.