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MANILA - The head of the National Capital Region Police Office on Tuesday said a lot of poor people are affected in the government's war on drugs because shabu, a common street drug, is the "poor man's cocaine."

"Shabu is poor man's cocaine. Okay? The most people that are actually affected are the poor because it's a fact that it's more available to the poor than to the rich," Metro Manila Police Director Camilo Cascolan told ANC Tuesday.

"The rich uses cocaine. The rich uses more than the best drugs that they could have. The poor ones, they use this because it's a poor man's cocaine," he added.

Cascolan said most of those who are using shabu become pushers so they can continue financing their addiction. In some cases, he added, selling drugs becomes their personal source of income.

"A lot of people became rich because of these drugs," said Cascolan, who before assuming leadership of the National Capital Region Police Office, was head of PNP's Directorate for Operations.

Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency data showed that as of March 20, this year, 4,075 drug-linked individuals have been killed in 91,704 anti-illegal drug operations conducted since July 2016.

The government's "Real Numbers" further showed that out of the total 2,467 drug-related homicide incidents recorded, 1,752 are still under investigation, while 715 have been solved.

The police official emphasized that only those who were violently resisting arrest were killed in the anti-drug operations.