'Marijuana trade up by 242% in 2008'

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) confirmed yesterday that the illegal trade of marijuana in the country grew bigger in 2008.

PDEA director general Dionisio Santiago said drug syndicates in the country have shifted to planting marijuana instead of trading shabu and other more expensive illegal drugs.

Records showed that the number of marijuana plantations discovered by government agents had increased by 242 percent in 2008 compared to the previous year.

PDEA and other law enforcement agencies dismantled 106 marijuana plantations from January to October this year compared to only 31 plantations last year.

PDEA agents destroyed over P28 million worth of marijuana in the biggest cultivation sites discovered so far in Northern Luzon last November.

Six marijuana plantations, covering a combined land area of 10 hectares in Benguet and La Union provinces, were seized last October.

Santiago said the agency raided 10 clandestine shabu laboratories this year while there were nine last year.

Some 13 shabu warehouses were discovered in 2007, while this year only four drug warehouses were raided.

“This is a clear indication that we have been successful so far in our campaign to neutralize shabu drug syndicates in the country,” Santiago told The STAR.

He cited the increase in the street price of illegal drugs as an indication of the decreasing supply of drugs in the market as a result of their successful campaign against drug gangs.

“The street price of shabu now ranges from P10,000 to P15,000 per gram. This is roughly around five to almost eight times higher than its street price early last year, which was P2,000 per gram,” he said.

Santiago said the price range of shabu not only applies to Metro Manila only but also in almost all provinces nationwide. He cited the value of shabu in Iloilo as the highest among the provinces at around P15,000 per gram.

Santiago said the scarcity of shabu forced pushers to sell ephedrine – a chemical, used in making shabu, whose importation is regulated by the government – or mixing small amounts of shabu with either toilet deodorant, alum or other substances that resemble shabu. He said these products are at least as dangerous as shabu.

Santiago also admitted that PDEA expects the possible market shift from shabu to cocaine and marijuana. – Edu Punay