THERE could be many more shabu ‘talipapa’ operating in other parts of the country, similar to that one busted by lawmen in Pasig City last Friday, National Police Director Arturo Lomibao said last Tuesday in Dagupan City.

“There is a possibility this may be happening in other parts of the country,” Lomibao said in a talk to newsmen last Sunday when he called on House Speaker Jose de Venecia, Jr. in his home here.

“It’s incomprehensible, unimaginable, and unthinkable that one could exist in the neighborhood and in the heart of Metro Manila,” Lomibao lamented as he ordered all police regional directors to undertake renewed fight against illegal drugs.

The one-stop shop for illegal drugs is located in a 1,000-square meter compound in sitio Mapayapa, barangay Sto. Tomas in Pasig City which was raided by lawmen who arrested 319 suspected drug dependents there.

Upon drug testing, some 100 of them were found positive for illegal drugs.

Lomibao said he relieved the eight policemen manning a precinct only 100 meters away from the compound because there was strong possibility they were in cahoots with the operators of the one-stop shop who are yet to be identified.

After the incident, Lomibao said he may implement the one-strike policy earlier applied on illegal jueteng so that any police chief where such illegal activity may occur for the first time could be immediately relieved.

Within the compound in sitio Mapayapa the drugs sale operated like a sari-sari store or “tiangge”. Anyone who wants to sniff shabu can have it for as low as P100 to as high as P200.

“What intrigues me is that one-stop shop for shabu had been in existence from two to three years. It is impossible for this not to be known by the neighborhood, police and even city hall officials,” he said.

The compound was located very close to various government offices, he said.

Lomibao however believes that such kind of illegal drug operations may not be brought to the provinces as the syndicate knows that people in the provinces know each other and can easily pinpoint anything unusual going on in their community.