PNP chief disputes PDEA’s claim of ‘shabu’ oversupply
The chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) disputed yesterday the claim of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) that there is already an oversupply of illegal drugs in the country and that it has led to the significant reduction in the price of “shabu.”
Citing its daily street operations as basis, Director-General Oscar Albayalde said both the quantity of illegal drugs that police seize and the price remain the same.
“I cannot second guess the PDEA on how they obtained that statistics. As per experience, we do not know; we cannot validate it as of this time if the price indeed decreased or there is an overflow of supply of drugs especially here in Metro Manila,” said Albayalde.
Earlier, PDEA Director-General Aaron N. Aquino was quoted as saying that the oversupply of shabu has led to the reduction of its price especially in Metro Manila.
Aquino had mentioned these findings based on successful operations of the PDEA in the past days.
But for Albayalde, it is neither the PDEA nor the police that could determine if there was, indeed, a price reduction, but the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB).
On the part of the PNP, he said there is no confirmatory intelligence reports of the oversupply and reduction of price of shabu in the streets of Metro Manila.
“Based on our efforts on the streets, it is still the same. We do not have information that the price of shabu was reduced,” said Albayalde.
The PDEA’s statement of oversupply of shabu is currently being connected to the alleged missing shabu from the four magnetic lifters found in Cavite that passed under the noses of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) a few months ago.
If the PDEA statement is true, Albayalde said their concern is to recover all of them and run after those who smuggled and distributed the illegal drugs.
Customs bites back
Meanwhile, smugglers, drug lords, and politicians are allegedly ganging up on BOC Commissioner Isidro Lapeña in a bid to bring him down, a high-ranking Customs official said yesterday.
Deputy Commissioner Edward James Dy Buco, who led the flag-raising ceremony on behalf of Lapeña, said that “because of the reforms and the strict leadership Lapeña brought to the bureau, he gained detractors, who are now ganging up to bring him down.”
Coming from Dy Buco, this statement was, so far, the first time the BOC has accused detractors for attempting to bring the bureau and its chief down.
“Kaya ang daming gustong sumira sa kanya kasi hindi nila kaya, eh. Nasasaktan na sila. Nasasaktan na ‘yung mga druglords. Nasasaktan na ‘yung mga smugglers, nasasaktan na ‘yung mga politikong gustong kumita kaya tulong tulong na sila para gibain tayo dahil nakikita nila ang pagbabago (That’s the reason why they want to bring him down. They are now suffering. The drug lords are suffering. The smugglers are suffering. The politicians are suffering, so they are now ganging up to bring us down because they’ve seen the changes),” Dy Buco said.
Dy Buco, who heads the Customs Assessment and Operations Coordinating Group, also encouraged all Customs employees to speak up for their leader amid the drug smuggling issue.
“As of now, alam ko ang morale ng Bureau of Customs ay masyadong mataas pero ngayon nasa gitna na naman tayo ng paghahamon. Hinahamon nila tayo ‘di ba? Eh, malakas na tayo,e dahil sa leadership ni Commissioner Lapena (As of now, the morale of the Bureau of Customsis high but we are once again in the middle of a controversy. They are challenging us, right? But we are already strong because of the leadership of Commissioner Lapeña),” said Dy Buco.
“Pero huwag tayong tumahimik, magsalita naman tayo. Sabihin naman natin kung anong klaseng leader si Commissioner Lapeña (Let’s not shut up, please speak up. Let’s speak up about what kind of a leader Commissioner Lapeña is),” Dy Buco added. (With a report from Betheena Kae Unite)