The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency yesterday destroyed some P6.06-billion worth of dangerous drugs in Barangay Aguado, Trece Martires City, Cavite.
Destroyed through thermal decomposition were 1,405,840.45 grams or 1.41 tons of assorted pieces of drug evidence composed of shabu, marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy, ephedrine, ketamine, pseudoephedrine, chloroephedrine, diazepam, nitrazepam, zolpidem, temazepam, clonazepam, alprazolam, methylphenidate, dimethylamphetamine, and expired medicines.
Also destroyed were 598 milliliters of liquid shabu, 1,126.20 milliliters of gamma-butyrolactone, and 104.43 milliliters of lidocaine.
Thermal decomposition or thermolysis is the method of decomposition or breaking down of chemical by heat. The decomposition temperature of a substance is the temperature at which the substance chemically decomposes. At 1,000 degrees Celsius, all dangerous drugs are totally decomposed or broken down.
PDEA Director General Aaron Aquino led the destruction of the contraband as ordered by the court.
“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.
Majority of illegal drugs destroyed were 276 blocks or 331.066 kilograms of cocaine with an estimated street value of P2.25 billion that were discovered floating on the shorelines of Nueva Ecija, Aurora, Quezon, Camarines Norte, Catanduanes, Albay, Sorsogon, Davao Oriental, Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur, and Dinagat Islands.
Aquino lauded the efforts of Regional Trial Courts in the National Capital Region, Ilocos region, Region 4-A or Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon), and Region 4-B (Mindoro Occidental and Oriental, Marinduque, Romblon, and Palawan), for the expeditious prosecution and disposition of drug cases that led to the prompt destruction of these illegal drugs no longer needed as evidence in court.
This is the seventh destruction since Aquino assumed as PDEA director general on Sept. 12, 2017, resulting in the destruction of seized illegal drugs, controlled precursors and essential chemicals, expired medicines, and laboratory equipment worth P25.66 billion – the most in the agency’s history in terms of monetary value and frequency and comprises 48.64 percent of the P52.75 billion worth of dangerous drugs destroyed in the last decade.
Under the administration of President Duterte from July 1, 2016 to present, 6.62 tons and 5,610.32 liters of dangerous drugs worth P28.03 billion have been destroyed. (Chito Chavez and PNA)
