PDEA Destroys P2.67 Billion-Worth Of Illegal Drugs

Drug authorities from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) recently destroyed illegal drugs amounting to P2.67 billion.

PDEA chief Arturo G. Cacdac, Jr. led the destruction of illegal drugs held at the Integrated Waste Management, Inc. (IWMI) in Treze Martirez City, Cavite.

“Majority of the burned shabu were seized from two storage facilities in San Fernando, Pampanga that happened on September 12, 2014,” Cacdac said.

Destroyed through thermal decomposition were a total of 1.6 metric tons of assorted pieces of drug evidence composed of methamphetamine hydrochloride, or shabu, liquid shabu, ketamine, marijuana, ephedrine, aziridine, norephedrine, pseudoephedrine, and expired medicines.

Thermal decomposition is the process by which various compounds are broken down into single units by the application of heat wherein reconstruction of the substances is impossible.

Based on the consolidated report of the PDEA Laboratory Service, the seized shabu, the country’s most abused illegal drug, weighing 465,834.10 grams, with an estimated street value of over P2.2 billion were destroyed at the site.

To recall, some 461 kilograms of shabu, 14.26 liters of liquid shabu, 236.77 kilograms of ephedrine and 656.7 kilograms of aziridine were discovered by authorities in a warehouse in Greenville Subdivision, Barangay San Jose and a townhouse located in the corner of Rome and Moscow Streets, Richtown Subdivision, Barangay Sindalan, both in San Fernando City, Pampanga that led to the arrest of four Chinese nationals.

Cacdac also noted that the destructed illegal drugs came highest in terms of total value and gross weight of dangerous drugs since 2010.

“We want the public to witness the destruction of dangerous drugs seized by drug enforcement officers in order to allay public apprehensions that these illicit substances are being reused, recycled or sold back in the streets,” he added.

The PDEA chief lauded the efforts of the different branches of Regional Trial Courts (RTCs) in the cities of Antipolo, Quezon, Makati, Pasay, Manila, Valenzuela, Las Piñas, Caloocan, Batangas and San Fernando, Pampanga, for the expeditious prosecution and disposition of drug cases that led to the prompt destruction of these illegal drugs and substances no longer needed as evidence in court. (PDEA/RJB/JEG/PIA-NCR)