All language subtitles for Asias Underworld s01e03 Drug Bandits.eng

On the streets it's known
as crystal meth, glass, ice, or shabu.

The Philippines Drug Enforcement Agency
estimates that 200 kilograms...

...of methamphetamine hydrochloride
is sold every day across the country.

The amphetamine drug rate
in the Philippines has escalated,

and is now one of the highest
in the world.

International crime syndicates
use the Philippines as a base...

...to manufacture the drug,

which is then trafficked
to the rest of Asia.

It's a business that drug traffickers
are willing to defend...

...at all costs.

Drug dealers are among
the world's most common criminals.

With no regard for
the well-being of their clients,

drug dealers sell noxious cocktails of
chemicals to anyone who is willing to pay.

In the Southeast Asian
nation of the Philippines,

the buying and selling of
methamphetamine hydrochloride,

known locally as shabu or crystal meth,
has become a major social problem.

With a turnover of more than 23 million
US dollars every day,

amphetamines like shabu mean big business
for Asia's drug syndicates.

For 11 years, selling drugs
was the name of the game for Edward.

In and out of prison 20 times,

Edward was convicted on March 2, 2007
of possession 25 grams of shabu,

and is now back behind bars.

At 13,000 US dollars per kilo,

Edward was making more on one deal...

...than the average Philippine employee
would make in one year.

Police have seen the price of
shabu fluctuate drastically,

with demand for the drug
skyrocketing in recent years.

During when I first assumed,
it was only 3000 pesos per gram,

or 3 million pesos per kilo.

But during my watch,

it reached as high as 12,000 per gram.

And we would like to believe
that it happened,

because we were able to curb the supply.

To lessen the supply,
it's like the laws of supply and demand.

You flood the markets,
you'll get it cheap.

Then, if it is in demand then there's
limited supply in the market,

then it becomes very expensive.

For the suppliers of shabu,

profits depend on having
a steady supply of the drug,

and a steady supply of the ingredients
needed to create it.

Highly toxic, dangerous substances are key
components in the production of shabu.

To make Shabu,
requires so many types of chemicals.

That's why if you would start to analyze
the kinds of chemicals used here,

and still insist on sniffing it,
you wouldn't dare to do it.

One of the deadliest chemicals
is hydrochloric acid.

This hydrochloric acid could burn,

or could just destroy solid steel
in a couple of hours.

And here you are, sniffing it.

In the recent past,

shabu was primarily manufactured
in large industrial laboratories,

necessary to keep up
with the growing demand.

But these large drug factories
had one weakness,

they were easily discovered.

Crime syndicates have since
downsized their cooking operations,

disappearing into civil society,

and becoming increasingly
harder to track down.

And we started to dismantle
these mega laboratories,

mega laboratories which manufactures
hundred of kilos per operation.

Eventually we were able to dismantle large
scale, medium scale, and small scale,

until the syndicates started
doing the kitchen-type laboratories,

which use the red phosphorus method,

which is odorless and smokeless.

So they do it on a smaller
scale in condominiums,

where it's very difficult to penetrate,

and that gives a lot of headaches
to law enforcement.

One law enforcement unit that goes
where no other can is the NBI.

The National Bureau of Investigation.

When the meth labs go underground,

the NBI goes undercover,
tracking down the middlemen,

the cooks and the dealers.

But for one undercover agent,
keeping his cover meant crossing the line.

Sometimes you have this situation
that you have to adapt,

you cannot control the situation.

During a covert investigation
of a group of suppliers,

NBI agent "Manuel" was forced to take
a hit of the highly addictive Shabu.

In one case we were in this area,

not known to my companion
outside the house,

where I was unwillingly
forced to use the drugs.

This drug pusher gave us the Shabu in
this plastic sachet to my informant,

then the informant told me that
we're supposed to use the drugs...

...inside the house.

In that situation, it's very dangerous.

Refuse, and he risks blowing his cover.

Accept, and not only
is he breaking the law,

but he could lose the self-control
he needs to keep his cover.

Not knowing what danger
the drug itself may pose,

the undercover agent is forced
to make on-the-spot decisions...

...that may prove fatal.

Manuel decides to take the drug.

He manages to convince the dealers
he can be trusted.

But other undercover agents
have not been so lucky.

In June of 2009,
officers raid a known meth lab.

Normally, since we are used to it,

during stakeout,
we're optimistic of the job.

Sometimes, we fail.

As the officers enter,

they appear to have
the situation under control.

But the drug dealers
are prepared to fight back.

Methamphetamines have
flooded the Philippines.

Shabu, aka Crystal Meth or Ice,
is now the drug of choice...

...for 90 percent of the Philippines'
1.7 million drug addicts.

The design and manufacturing of the
drug has been on an industrial scale.

The Philippines Drug Enforcement Agency,
the police,

and the National
Bureau of Investigation...

...have rolled out operations targeted
directly against the manufacturers.

The NBI is doing its part in contributing
for a drug-free Philippines.

So far, we've already busted
more than 10 clandestine laboratories.

To bring down a meth laboratory,

the NBI launches covert investigations
to identify the key players involved,

and to secure warrants for their arrest.

It all begins with an informant.

We receive information,
we go to the area and check...

...if the person and the house
or the target area actually exists.

And then from there,
we conduct surveillance,

stakeouts with the subjects,

we interview witnesses,
or we recruit possible assets,

or informants that could help us
establish the modus operandi.

Police officers go undercover
to gather evidence,

and better understand the structure
of a drug-trafficking syndicate.

When enough information
has been gathered,

it's time to drop in on the drug dealers.

Before we conduct a raid,

it's our standard operating procedure
that we conduct a briefing.

In that case,
we were divided into two groups,

and I was assigned
to assist our team leader.

When we're about to gain entry
to the house of the subject,

a shot was fired and I was hit.

A raid on a Shabu manufacturing clan is
one of the most dangerous operations...

...that an NBI officer will face
during his career.

In many cases,
officers expect that guns may be fired.

In narcotics operations, it's dangerous.

Normally here in the Philippines,
when we conduct raids,

we anticipate that our subject has guns.

It's either we shoot them
or they shoot us.

Every raid is considered
a life-and-death situation,

when letting your guard down,
even for a split second,

can be a costly mistake.

I did not anticipate
that would happen to me,

because we had an agent
who was ahead of us,

and I thought he had gained
control of the situation.

But unfortunately, a shot was fired,
and I was hit.

NBI officer "Raymond" was lucky,

sustaining a single gunshot wound
to his leg.

But for the rest of his team,

the anti-drug trafficking operations
must go on.

February 23, 2009,

the NBI has been informed by Taiwan's
Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau,

to expect a guest.

A Taiwanese chemist known as Mr Wu...

...is set to arrive in the Philippines
from Taiwan via China Airlines Flight 711.

Investigators believe
that Mr Wu has ties...

...to an international
drug-trafficking syndicate,

also known as a clan,

and that his arrival in the Philippines
marks the start...

...of a new meth lab operation.

Acting on this information,

we were informed that they are set
to arrive here in the Philippines,

to set up a clandestine laboratory,
somewhere here in Metro Manila.

On arrival, NBI agents follow Mr Wu.

He meets his contact.

A man the NBI identify as local Chinese,
Li Tuang.

Li Tuang is the commercial
tenant of a four-storey building...

...on Honorio Lopez Boulevard.

They arrived in the morning
of February 23.

From the airport we tailed them
to the building that they leased.

They proceeded immediately
to Manila Grand Opera Hotel.

Mr Wu and Li Tuang checked into
the hotel and stayed for three days.

On February 26, they checked out,

and proceed immediately
to the four-storey building.

In our law, we cannot just barge
into a house or building,

we need to apply for a search warrant.

And fortunately, it was granted.

Actually I applied twice,

because first we were not able to make it,

because we received an information that
the group has not produced the meth yet.

After three weeks of staking out the
suspects and monitoring their activities,

the NBI is granted a warrant.

Coordination with the Philippines' other
drug law enforcement agencies begins.

The big fish and the chemist,

these are the two most important
things that you have to find.

Especially if you're at a clan lab.

You get the chemist,
you cripple the syndicate.

Because it's the chemist
that's doing the mixture,

the cook, they call it the cook.

Like in the restaurant.

They arrived aboard a Delica van.

We were just outside
because during that time,

we were in a 24-hour stakeout.

They arrived in the afternoon
and when they opened the gate,

they were surprised
because we were there,

and we informed them that we have
a search warrant against the building.

They were very cooperative.

And it was a four-storey building,
the ground floor is a parking area,

and on the second floor is their room.

After examining the first
few floors of the building,

investigators discover
a manufacturing operation...

...that far exceeded their expectations.

The lab was fully operational,

and was poised to start
flooding the streets with meth.

The third floor is the lab.

We found precursors, chemicals,
and found there were...

...5.7 kilos of powdered form
of methamphetamine hydrochloride.

And 36.2 kilos of liquid form
of said dangerous drugs.

Street value is estimated
at about 200 million pesos.

The bust proved to be a major step towards
keeping the supply of shabu under control.

Three Chinese nationals were
arrested during that raid.

One of them is a resident
of the Philippines.

They are now facing charges for violation
of Section 8 of Republic Act 9165,

which is the Comprehensive
of Dangerous Drugs 2002.

While one clan is arrested,

others still roam the streets
selling their dangerous product,

a drug synthesized
from a mixture of chemicals...

...that consists primarily of poisons.

The ingredients that regularly
go into a shabu cook...

...include not just hydrochloric acid,
but brake oil, drain cleaner,

even farm fertilizers, among others.

Not surprisingly,

the long-term use of shabu
can have dangerous effects...

...on the human mind and body.

Paranoia, hallucinations,
and seizures are common.

In this state of mind,

the shabu addict may lose his friends,

his family,

even his grasp on reality.

The Philippines has become
a manufacturing base...

...in South East Asia
for the illicit drug,

methamphetamine hydrochloride.

Street name, Shabu.

The euphoria and increased
energy effects of the drug...

...brings users back for more.

But these short-term effects
hide the sinister side of shabu,

crsytal meth,
and other related amphetamines.

Extremely addictive
and psychologically destructive,

shabu leaves the long-term user
unable to function in normal society.

Methamphetamine hydrochloride,

or what we know as the Shabu,

is primarily a stimulant.

It increases your tolerance,

until you are addicted to it,
psychologically and physiologically.

It will destroy
the aid system in the brain.

The aid system is the one
that tells you right or wrong,

so there is no more perception
of what is wrong or right.

Long-term users experience debilitating
symptoms including severe paranoia,

hallucinations, seizures,
and even uncontrolled violent behavior.

In extreme cases,

a condition known as amphetamine-induced
psychosis may take hold.

Brandy Ayala once dreamt of a glamorous
career in front of the camera.

Her ambitions led her
down a difficult path,

where eventually,
she became an adult film actress.

And it was in this industry that
Brandy's life began to unravel,

after she was introduced to shabu.

Once hooked on the drug,

symptoms similar to those of
paranoid schizophrenia emerged.

Brandy's mood swings
and panic attacks soon worsened.

Shabu took her
from addiction to mental disorder.

When you take Shabu,

the increase in dopamine is so much
that it can produce hallucination.

So you do things that is not normally done
by a normal individual.

You hallucinate,
you see things which are not there,

you hear sounds,
you see people which is not there.

But ultimately, it can cause psychosis.

A severe mental disorder,
psychosis sufferers like Brandy...

...lose the emotional and intellectual
connection with external reality.

Today, she remains
disturbed and delusional,

a completely changed person.

Drug addicts are supplied
by drug dealers, or pushers,

who operate as middlemen
between the manufacturers and the users.

These street dealers are the last link
in the chain of the criminal network.

In some cases,

the pushers themselves come
from poor neighborhoods,

looking for easy money
to overcome their harsh reality.

The drug's street value is determined by
the sum of the supplier's wholesale price,

plus the dealer's commission
of 10 to 30 percent.

Shabu is a drug with mass appeal,

so the users, or "scorers"
can be just about anyone.

Rehabilitation is a long, painful process.

Withdrawal symptoms alone
can take their toll.

Anxiety and deep depression
are common in users,

who struggle to rid themselves
of their dependence on the drug.

When addiction finally
begins to release its grip,

many drug users express deep regret.

The drug trade in the Philippines
has ruined countless lives,

and authorities fear the situation
is only going to get worse.

The number of Filipinos arrested
internationally for drug smuggling...

...has risen from just two in 1993,
to 691 by May 2011.

An increased awareness, it is hoped,
will act as a deterrent.

Independent agencies support
the work of law enforcement,

by taking to the streets,

where they teach kids
what the repercussions are...

...of long-term substance abuse.

On the streets, it's very rampant,
and it's very serious.

Because the kids, what they see
from the adults they follow.

As you can in my area in Divisoria,
even the parents are into substance use.

There are two things that we do.
Individual and group counseling.

The other one is
the alternative education.

Primarily, our objective is
to advocate on child's rights.

The lure of easy money makes many
susceptible to the temptations,

that organized crime
syndicates offer and exploit.

But the pay-off is always temporary,

an illusion that inevitably
results in hard time for criminals.

Ultimately, it's not
just the act of selling,

buying or taking the drug that does harm.

It is the impact on families
and on the lives of innocent people,

that does the most damage.

And this damage may be irreversible.

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