Tawas king? Drug dealer passes off tawas as shabu in Naga City

NAGA CITY, Philippines (Bicol Standard) – Buyers beware. The white crystalline substance that is offered to you may not be shabu, but tawas. 

A notorious police character who has been previously apprehended in a buy-bust operation with a white substance similar in appearance to shabu, but was later discovered in the crime lab to be tawas, was arrested again early Saturday morning. 

Operatives nabbed Harold Kim Moraño of Zone 3, Pagdaicon, Barangay Mabolo, by virtue of a warrant of arrest for the crime of theft. 

During the body search, however, the investigators were surprised to find several sachets containing a white substance. 

Moraño confessed that he peddles the substance to drug users at a price comparable to the street value of shabu. 

He earlier said that he sometimes sells tawas as shabu because tawas is less expensive, and the supply of shabu has now become scarce due to anti-drug campaign.

The operatives suspect, however, that the substance may once again be tawas, instead of the prohibited drug. 

They said they will forward the substance to the crime lab to confirm whether it is shabu or tawas. 

Residents here, meanwhile, have started calling Moraño “tawas king” after having been apprehended earlier for selling fake shabu.

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Melissa Basmayor is the editor of the Bicol Standard, a regional partner of Philstar.com.