PDEA destroys over P6-B illegal drugs
More than P6-billion worth of dangerous drugs were destroyed by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency on Thursday in Cavite.
The destruction ceremony was led by PDEA Director General Aaron Aquino at the Integrated Waste Management, Inc. (IWMI) at Barangay Aguado, Trece Martirez City in Cavite.
Destroyed were drug evidence confiscated during anti-drug operations.
PDEA, in a statement, said the total amount of crashed evidence were ?6,058,340,333.25.
Based on the consolidated report of the PDEA Laboratory Service, destroyed were 173,301.55 grams of shabu amounting to P2,079,618,600.00; liquid shabu amounting to P2,152,800.00; 336,254.61 grams of cocaine worth P2,286,531,348.00; 482,539.27 grams of marijuana worth P57,904,712.40; 1,491.31 grams of ecstasy worth P10,222,689.52; 322,356.30 grams of chloroephedrine worth P1,611,781,500.00; 1,008.49 grams of ephedrine worth P5,042,450.00; and 50,508.48 grams of diazepam worth ?3,914,407.20
Destroyed through thermal decomposition or breaking down of chemical by heat, were a total of 1,405,840.45 grams or 1.41 tons of assorted pieces of drug evidence, 598 milliliters of liquid shabu, 1,126.20 milliliters of gamma butyrolactone (GBL), and 104.43 milliliters of lidocaine.
PDEA said majority of illegal drugs destroyed were 276 blocks or 331.066 kilograms of cocaine discovered floating in the different shorelines of Nueva Ecija, Aurora, Quezon, Camarines Norte, Catanduanes, Albay, Sorsogon, Davao Oriental, Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur and Dinagat Islands with an estimated street value of ?2.25 billion.
Aquino lauded the efforts of the different branches of Regional Trial Courts (RTCs) in the National Capital Region (NCR), Ilocos Region, CALABARZON and MIMAROPA, for the expeditious prosecution and disposition of drug cases that led to the prompt destruction of the illegal drugs no longer needed as evidence in court.
The destruction of the dangerous drugs was in compliance with the guidelines set on the custody and disposition of seized dangerous drugs required in Section 21, Article II of Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, and Dangerous Drugs Board Regulation No. 1, Series of 2002.
“We want the public to witness the destruction of drug evidence seized by drug enforcement officers in order to dispel the public notion that these illicit items are being reused, recycled or sold back in the streets,” Aquino said.
Since Aquino assumed as the PDEA chief last September 2017, this was the seventh destruction made by the agency on seized illegal drugs, controlled precursors and essential chemicals (CPECs), expired medicines and laboratory equipment worth ?25.66 billion which is the highest in PDEA history in terms of monetary value and frequency.
From July 1, 2016 to present, PDEA has destroyed a total of 6.62 tons and 5,610.32 liters of dangerous drugs worth ?28.03 billion have been destroyed
This was 48.64 percent of the P52.75 billion worth of dangerous drugs destroyed in the last decade, according to PDEA.
“Since 2008, PDEA destroyed a total of 21.03 tons of solid illegal drugs, and 6,022.15 liters of liquid illegal drugs worth ?52.75 billion,” it said. Ella Dionisio/DMS
