ECSTASY INTERRUPTED Director Virgilio Mendez of the
National Bureau of Investigation shows during a press conference onWednesday the ecstasy tablets recovered after an NBI raid against illegal drugs. The tablets are often passed around during rave parties. NIÑO JESUS ORBETA
MANILA, Philippines–Six people, four of them foreigners, were arrested in a series of operations against manufacturers and distributors of an illegal drug allegedly used in “date rape” cases, according to the National Bureau of Investigation.
The drug is popularly known as GHB, or Gamma-Hydroxybutyrate. It is also called “liquid Ecstasy.”
Joel Tovera, the chief of the NBI antidrugs unit, said the suspects were three Americans—Sean Eugene Blanchard, Deniece Thieke and Aaron Limon—Balogun Ashimiyu, a Nigerian, and two Filipino women, Mica Gonzaga and Alene Aprid Matute.
The suspects are now detained at the NBI jail and have been charged with selling illegal drugs, Tovera told a news conference on Wednesday.
Tovera said the suspects were caught following a series of raids conducted at three condominium units in Mandaluyong City and Malate, Manila.
One of the condominiums reportedly belonged to Limon, an American, and among the items recovered in his unit were beakers and mixing tools for chemicals.
‘Tap cleaner’
Documents found in Limon’s unit showed that the solvent he mixed with locally available chemicals to make the “date rape” drug, GHB, was imported from Poland and identified and classified merely as a “tap cleaner.”
Also found in the condominium units were portable equipment used in mixing liquids and chemicals, some of which can be readily bought in any grocery store.
Undetectable
According to Tovera, the suspects were some of the big-time distributors of GHB, which, he said, costs about P10,000 per milliliter.
GHB was classified as a controlled substance in 2000 by the Food and Drug Administration.
Tovera said the drug is odorless and colorless, and when mixed with alcohol and other drinks, is undetectable to the “supposed victim.”
Users of GHB experience euphoria, an increased sex drive and feelings of tranquility, he said.
GHB users also experience negative effects like sweating, loss of consciousness and induced amnesia, he added.
“The victim cannot remember what happened in the case of a sexual assault when she wakes up the following day,” Tovera said.
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