100 Pasay junkies nabbed weekly

An average of 100 drug users and pushers are arrested by the Pasay City police every week since the start of the year, the city’s police chief said .

But Superintendent Eduardo de la Cerna quickly emphasized that the number of arrests does not necessarily mean that Pasay has become "a drug center" in Southern Metro Manila.

De la Cerna credited the impressive figure to a "very effective team" of law enforcers.

Police Inspector Reynaldo Paculan, Drug Enforcement Unit (DEU) officer-in-charge, said that a total of 65 persons have been arrested since March for selling illegal drugs, particularly methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu.

Among those police have arrested were a 76-year-old laundry woman, a 10-year-old boy, and a 12-year-old boy who agreed to be a drug courier in exchange for P100, Paculan said.

However, since police have only arrested "small-time users and pushers," only less than 12 grams of shabu have been confiscated.

De la Cerna said that authorities have identified some "personalities" who supply prohibited drugs but said these people cannot be classified as "big fish."

He also said that the police crackdown on video karera helped in arresting suspected drug users.

"Most of those arrested are also addicted to the illegal game. We have confiscated a lot of video karera machines which forced these people to play cara y cruz on the streets," De la Cerna said. – Nikko Dizon