Pubdate: Sun, 15 May 2005
Source: People's Journal (Philippines)
Copyright: 2005 People's Journal
Contact: http://www.journal.com.ph/contactus.asp
Website: http://www.journal.com.ph/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3381
Author: Alfred Dalizon
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?158 (Club Drugs)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/areas/Philippines

SATAN'S RECIPE

POLICE are tracking down a group of Chinese drug manufacturers
believed trying to concoct a new deadly mix of the poor man's cocaine
called shabu and the suicide-inducing drug Ketamine.

Philippine National Police deputy chief for administration Deputy
Director General Ricardo F. de Leon said the combination could be
deadly to users as it could lead even to suicide.

Ketamine-induced suicides have been recorded in the United States,
Europe and some parts of Asia prompting the Dangerous Drugs Board to
classify it as a dangerous drug.

De Leon, also the commander of the PNP Anti-Illegal Drugs Special
Operations Task Force, issued the warning in the wake of the discovery
of a secret drug laboratory in Quezon City last Tuesday where combined
agents of the PNP-AIDSOTF and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency
headed by Undersecretary Anselmo S. Avenido Jr. seized about seven
kilograms of Ketamine, a new drug craze, worth P37 million.

De Leon said the suspects who remain at-large, led by one Johnson
Chua, is trying to experiment with the Ketamine-shabu combination.
Chua is also wanted for involvement in shabu laboratory smashed by
PDEA and PNP operatives in Cagayan de Oro last Monday.

Avenido said they also recovered 100 grams of shabu and assorted
cooking utensils inside the Q.C. lab. A suspect identified as Jay-R
Avellanosa, a resident of San Jose del Monte, Bulacan was arrested
during the raid at  9-A Apo Street, Barangay Sta. Teresita in Sta.
Mesa Heights, Q.C.

The raiders did not find Chua and his alleged cohorts Greg Sia,
Avellanosa, Melchor Martinez and an unidentified Chinese chemist.

Ketamine is a common sedative used by veterinarians for pet animals.
De Leon said that the raid was a follow-up to a buy-bust operation
last Wednesday conducted by combined PDEA and AIDSOTF elements in
Metro Manila which resulted in the arrest of Martinez of Bambang, Sta.
Cruz, Manila for selling 1.2 kilos of shabu to an undercover officer.

He said that during interrogation, Ramirez, who has been described as
a right-hand man of Chua, pointed to the location of the drugs which
turned out to be the three-storey apartment earlier  placed under
surveillance by agents following reports that it was being frequented
by suspicious-looking men.

De Leon said they were coordinating with their Hong Kong counterparts
to arrest Chua who is now believed hiding in the former Crown Colony.
The Quezon City raid came a day after PDEA and PNP agents raided a
shabu warehouse in Cagayan de Oro believed being operated by a group
of Chinese drug traffickers led by Chua.

"We have been watching this warehouse since last January amid
intelligence reports that Chinese drug syndicates feeling the heat of
our operations in Metro Manila and nearby provinces have shifted their
operations to the provinces, particularly in Visayas and Mindanao,"
Avenido said.

He said the suspects were believed to be involved in the operation of
a major shabu laboratory smashed by PDEA and PNP agents in a raid last
December that left six suspects, all foreigners, dead.  "In fact, this
operation was triggered by information we gathered from our previous
operation in Davao City," he said.

Named as respondents in the Cagayan de Oro raid were Chua, Sia, Tsui
Ngai Wai; an alias Awi; David Sy; an alias Tibe; Juan B. Tan; and six
John Does. 
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