Cebu as illegal drug ‘hot spot’

President Rody Duterte has tagged Cebu as a “hot spot” for illegal drugs, especially shabu. But he said Cebu has been cleaned of illegal drugs a bit. “Now, medyo nalinis ’yon (Now, we already cleaned Cebu a bit). We changed guards there,” he said.

But Cebu must have been the Augean Stables of illegal drugs because law enforcers are still hauling million of pesos worth of illegal drugs day in and day out.

Some P400 million worth of illegal drugs had been seized while at least 9,000 drug suspects were arrested and about 400 others killed in Central Visayas since July 1 last year. About 90 percent of the figures occurred in Cebu.

Chief Supt. Noli Taliño, Police Regional Office (PRO-7) director and Director Yogi Filemon Ruiz of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA)7, agreed with the President’s assessment.

Taliño said big-time drug lords started in Cebu before they spread to other places.

President Duterte said Cebu was being used as a transshipment point of illegal drugs intended for different parts of the Visayas.

He said the narcotics trade in Cebu thrived due to the protection by the police, but these scalawags had been transferred out of the region.

PNP Chief Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa said there are no more shabu laboratories in the country. Did he check the source of the shabu that were shipped to Cebu?

DEA 7’s Ruiz said the shabu supply in Cebu dwindled due to the administration’s brutal campaign against drugs.

“When the President assumed his post, the price of five grams of shabu in Cebu is P6,500. But right now, the price has increased to P15,000. It is an indicator that drug syndicates have a hard time getting their supply,” he said.

If that’s true, some illegal drug traffickers are making a killing with the skyrocketing prices of shabu.

Taliño said big-time drug lords started in Cebu before they spread to other places