SHABU BROTHELS YIELD HOOKERS, MINORS

BOCAUE, Bulacan -- Kalye Buntisan is a one-of-a-kind pleasure spa. It
is a surreal world visited by all kinds of thrill seekers -- from
junkies to sex predators -- and offers services that would titillate
even the most reserved souls: shabu-cum-sex one-stop shops.

Authorities made this shocking discovery after arresting at least 75
suspects, including prostitutes and minors from what police called
"shabu brothels" in Bgy. Lolomboy here.

From shabu tiangge to shabu restaurant and now shabu brothel -- the
one-stop dope shop is now becoming a fad.

The Bocaue version is the fourth drug "community" to fall, following
the dismantling recently of the Pasig tiangge, Pasay shabu supermart
and the Quiapo connection, the latter just the other day.

Joint operatives of the National Bureau of Investigation Anti-Drug
Task Force led by Ruel Lasala, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency
and the Bulacan police stormed a row of shanties and nabbed 75 persons
allegedly holding shabu sessions inside rooms that serve as dope dens
or "shabu brothels."

Lasala identified four of the suspected drug traffickers as Emilio
Santiago, Rafael Gumatay, Benezer Gabriel and Analyn Balanditan.
During drug testing yesterday, 39 of the suspects tested positive for
shabu use.

"Nagbabayad ng P20 to P30 ang mga gustong gumamit ng shabu," said
Bocaue police chief Buenaventura Viray.

The NBI said Belen Gumatay, the owner of the compound where the shabu
brothels are situated, allegedly collects P600 a month and P50 a day
for electricity from the maintainers of the shanties.

For P20 a session, shabu users can rent a cubicle inside one of the
many shanties. Two pesos is charged for an aluminum foil to be used as
a tooter and a lighter to fire it up. The minimum purchase price for
shabu is P200.

"Talagang ang hithitan ng shabu ay 24 oras sa mga drug user sa Bgy.
Lolomboy," said an NBI agent, requesting anonymity.

Police seized a still undetermined quantity of shabu and assorted drug
paraphernalia during the raid.

The raid was conducted on the strength of a search warrant issued by
Judge Antonio Eugenio of the Manila Regional Trial Court.

Notorious

Kalye Buntisan has long been notoriously known as a "dope
center."

Before shabu became the favorite and most abused substance among drug
users, Kalye Buntisan was already known as a major distribution center
of marijuana and other narcotics in Bulacan.

Most of the "dope customers" going to Kalye Buntisan were bar girls
and employees of night spots and honky tonk bars along the so-called
red-light district area of Bocaue and nearby Marilao town.

Viray said police are constantly conducting anti-drugs operations not
only in Kalye Buntisan but also in other parts of Bocaue.

The arrested suspects, some of whom are minors and women, were herded
into two buses and brought by NBI agents to their headquarters in
Manila where they will undergo further investigation.

Bulacan Governor Josie dela Cruz, who is a resident of Bocaue,
commended the NBI, the Bulacan police and PDEA agents for a job well
done.

She said the area has been the subject of surveillance for a long time
now and the police teams have finally rid the area of drug pushers
and users.

Meanwhile, an anti-narcotics agent disclosed that the shabu trade has
made a big come back after being scarce due to the busting of several
shabu laboratories in the last two years.

The agent, who requested anonymity, said that there now seems to be an
alarming trend in the sales and distribution of shabu as shown by the
presence of "shabu tiangges."

"Bigla na lang bumulaga na malakas na naman ang bentahan ng shabu
pagkaraan ng ilang buwang pagkawala nito," the agent said, adding that
at one time, shabu was dislodged by marijuana as the favorite among
drug users.

"Medyo nag-shi-shift na nga sa marijuana 'yung mga user dahil naging
scarce ang shabu dahil sa sunod-sunod na pagkakalansag ng mga
laboratoryo nito," he observed.

He said that shabu has once again become the "box office hit" among
drug users because many "one-stop shops" have emerged in Metro Manila
- -- and now in Bulacan.

"Ang tanong, eh, saan kaya nanggagaling ang mga shabu na ibinebenta sa
mga tiangge na 'yan?" the anti-narcotics agent asked.