Cebu City cops keeping a close eye on ecstasy demand

Ecstasy tablets are illegal drugs also described as party drugs because these are usually sold in parties. | stock photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Policemen in Cebu City will be on the lookout for the possible increase in demand for ecstasy in the city following the reopening of establishments that are allowed to serve liquor in the city.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Wilbert Parilla, Cebu City Police Office deputy director for operations, said they were closely monitoring this because the market for this ecstasy would usually be in bars.

“With this no nga nag hinay-hinay nag open ang mga imnanan posible nga mubalik na sad ang ecstasy kay ang ecstasy not the same with shabu nga sa mga kanto-kanto ra mabaligya. But usually ang market jud sa ecstasy kay mga bars,” Parilla said.

(With the bars slowly opening, then we are looking out for the possible return of ecstasy because ecstasy is not the same as shabu where it can be sold in street corners. Usually the market or the place to sell for this illegal drug would be in bars.)

The Cebu City policemen’s action also followed after the arrest last June 26 of a freelance photographer for selling “kush” and “ecstasy.”

Kush and ecstasy tablets

According to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in a previous report, “kush” is a variety of high-grade marijuana.

Ecstasy is described by DrugsData.org, an online archive of illegal drugs sold around the world, as a simplified term of methylenedioxy-methamphetamine (MDMA).

MDMA is a drug ingested to alter sensations in varying degrees and manners. Its effect can last within three to six hours.

According to PDEA in CDN Digital report on February 2020, ecstasy is a party drug because it is usually sold in parties including those held in clubs.

Meanwhile, the freelance photographer caught with the the Kush and ecstasy tablets was identified by the Cebu City police as Roland Joseph Ybañez, 28.

Ybañez was caught with P10,500 worth of Kush and seven pieces of blue-colored tablets believed to be ‘ecstasy with an estimated value of 17,500. 

Parilla said that the operation against Ybañez was made after an “asset” informed them about his illegal activities.

Tablet sold at P2,500 each

He said that ecstasy tablets were difficult to buy because those who could only purchase these drugs were those who could only afford them.

The estimated cost of ecstasy is around P2,500 per tablet.

“And then precisely, diri sad ni sila sa mga bars and hotels and ilang transaction, because ang mogamit aning ecstacy is kato raman pung naay mga gimik-gimik,”he added.

(And then precisely, they usually do their transactions in bars and hotels because most of those who use ecstasy are for fun only.)

Parilla further said that they also found it difficult to monitor ecstasy since those who sell these drugs would not just offer to anybody but their acquaintances only. 

He said these were unlike shabu peddlers, where we could easily transact with for their illegal drugs, and ecstasy had limited customers because of its cost.

He said they were now tracing the source of the ecstasy from Ybanez, who was detained at the Parian Police Station.

RELATED STORIES

P3 million worth of ecstasy, kush intercepted in air parcels

The hidden world of ‘ecstasy’ tucked away in the recesses of party places