Transport of drugs easier with expressways: PDEA

By Redjie Cawis and Jean Samillano

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet -- The opening of roads brings development, but  there is also downside  that may have serious repercussions.

Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency – Cordillera regional director Ronald Allan Ricardo said transport of drugs particularly shabu and marijuana going in and out of the Cordillera  region  was made easier through expressways.

Dati dumadaan ang mga suppliers sa Manila North Road or the Mac Arthur Highway  peron gayon napabilis na ang travel more through NLEX (North Luzon Expressway), SCTEX (Subic Clark Tarlac Expressway)and TPLEX(Tarlac- Pangasinan Expressway) from Manila going to the provinces sa Cordillera at sa iba pang lugar,”  Ricardo told the Regional Peace and Order Council.

Drug peddlers, he said, have faster access to  drugs particularly shabu which are distributed in Cordileta provinces in same manner marijuana from  the provinces of Benguet, Kalinga and Mountain Province are also  transported to Manila and other areas in the lowlands easier.

Shabu, according to Ricardo, is now the number one drug of choice in the Cordillera. There is reportedly no shabu manufacturing facility in the region so supplies  come from  other areas.

“Traffickers of shabu and marijuana products are more organized now and most employ new means in transporting drugs,” he added..

Ricardo said they were not saying development of roads was  bad. “It’s just roads made easier  access  of  drugs in and out  of the  region and  creating  additional work for  PDEA particularly on intelligence gathering.

Meanwhile, the PDEA disclosed a total of 114 barangays in the Cordillera were drug-affected.

PDEA  is reportedly on lookout for  194 drug personalities in the region.