PNP: Pushers offering ‘free taste’ to students

MANILA, Philippines - With classes due to start next week, drug pushers are hanging around schools and offering students a “free taste” of shabu, the Philippine National Police (PNP) warned the public yesterday.

Chief Inspector Roque Merdegia, spokesman of the PNP’s Anti-Illegal Drug Special Operations Task Force (AIDSOTF), said the gimmick – often seen in supermarkets to promote new products – is part of a ploy to get students hooked on drugs.

 â€œWhen (they) are addicted to shabu, the students will be forced to buy the illegal drug based on the terms of the shabu pushers,” he said. “Some drug pushers give students large discounts.”

PNP chief Director General Alan Purisima has ordered AIDSOTF chief Senior Superintendent Bartolome Tobias to intensify the government’s drive against illegal drugs, especially with the opening of classes.

Merdegia said high school students are more prone to getting hooked to illegal drugs since at their age, they are more adventurous and are eager to try everything, like smoking cigarettes and drinking liquor.

“Drug pushers are targeting students, who could afford to buy drugs using their allowance,” he said.

Students as couriers

Merdegia said they also received information that some drug pushers are using students as drug couriers to help them sell shabu in school campuses.

“So we are coordinating with school officials to help them detect students helping drug pushers sell illegal drugs inside the school,” he said.  “Unfortunately, security guards do not have the skills to determine if an individual is a drug courier,” Merdegia added.

He called on parents to carefully observe their children’s behavior and advise their children to be careful when choosing their friends in school.

Merdegia said officials of a university have asked AIDSOTF to assist them in monitoring individuals believed to have links with the illegal drug trade.