
P1.2-B ‘shabu’ seized in Pampanga not shabu at all, NBI admits
UPON intense grilling by Antipolo (2nd District) Representative Romeo Acop on Monday, some officials of the National Bureau of Investigation who reported the seizure of 200 kilograms of shabu worth P1.2 billion in Mabalacat City in Pampanga last August 25 finally admitted that they got it all wrong.
Instead, the NBI officials along with their chief chemist said that during a laboratory examination, the drugs were found to be Dimethyl Sulfone, not Methamphetamine Hydrochloride which is commonly known as shabu or the “poor man’s cocaine.”
The NBI chemist during the same House hearing said Dimethyl Sulfone is being used as a shabu ‘adulterant.’ I checked with Wikipedia and it said Dimethyl Sulfone is an organosulfur compound with the formula (CH₃)₂SO₂. It is also known by several other names including methyl sulfone and methylsulfonylmethane. This colorless solid features the sulfonyl functional group and is the simplest of the sulfones.
Wikipedia said “people commonly use MSM for osteoarthritis. It is also used for pain, swelling, aging skin, hay fever, and many other conditions, but there is no good scientific evidence to support most of these uses.”
“Don’t confuse MSM with DMSO (Dimethylsulfoxide). They are not the same compound,” it also says.
I saw part of the House hearing on YouTube and learned that the House Committee on Dangerous Drugs chaired by Rep. Robert Ace Barbers has ordered the NBI to turn over the recovered Dimethyl Sulfone to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency for safekeeping and of course, eventual destruction upon orders of the court.
Some sources told me that Justice Secretary Boying Remulla, as early last week, has already ordered the NBI to turn over the substance discovered inside an abandoned red Toyota Avanza with plate no. ZGS-463 to the PDEA. Thus, Rep. Acop expressed wonder why the NBI failed to turn over the substance to the PDEA, with or without the SOJ’s directive.
This should serve as a lesson to all law enforcement agencies. Please do not announce to the whole world that shabu has been seized without subjecting it to on-the-spot test to avoid embarrassing the government in general and the leaders of a certain law enforcement unit in particular.
This was what happened last August 25 in Mabacalat City. Some officials of the NBI Task Force Against Illegal Drugs even went to Facebook Live to report the discovery of the more than P1 billion worth of shabu inside the abandoned wagon.
Reports said the suspected illegal drugs recovered from the Toyota Avanza were packed in tea bags and that that packaging was almost the same, except for the color as that used to conceal an estimated P11 billion worth of shabu seized by the agency in Quezon province two years ago.
However, as Rep. Acop found out that the drugs recovered in Mabalacat City were not shabu at all. I still have to find out what happened during the executive session requested by NBI officials present in last Monday’s hearing to fully explain the matter.