Police who raided a suspected drug den in barangay Duljo-Fatima, Cebu City last Friday night were surprised to find boys aged nine to 14 sniffing shabu along with adults.
The boys were using tooters to sniff melted shabu in a closed room.
“I was shocked to see them. At first, I couldn’t believe it because they were so young to be using shabu,” said Supt. Romeo Santander, chief of the City Intelligence Branch (CIB) of the Cebu city police.
The boys told him that they sniffed shabu to stay awake when they sell newspapers on the streets from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m.
The minors were turned over to Ester Concha, head of the social welfare services office of Cebu City.
The place was not far from the barangay hall of Duljo-Fatima, one of the barangays listed by police as an area where drug sales were active.
Ten adults were arrested in the raid. They were caught sniffing shabu in a separate room, said police.
Before staging the raid, police conducted a buy-bust operation and arrested Janet Suarez Domin in sitio Ponyang after she allegedly sold a pack of shabu to a decoy.
Police said they recovered 253 sachets of suspected shabu worth P80,000 from the woman.
Before the raid, police were tipped off about drug activities in the house.
Three women took turns acting as caretakers, said police who arrested Beryl Loren Pane, Josefa Tabasa and Sally Mangolari. The name of the house owner is still being verified, said the police.
Police also arrested 10 males, mostly habal-habal drivers, identified as Jerry Ybañez, Roger Abellanosa, Julius Atillo, Velvic Tabasa, Christian Aguilos, Christian Bautista and Aldwin Obejo.
Police also seized illegal gambling machines for moli-moli, video carrera and bingo.