OVER P4.51-billion worth of shabu and other illegal substances seized by anti-narcotics agents from the Philippine National Police (PNP) and other law enforcement agencies last year were destroyed by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) last week as part of government efforts to deter suspicions they could be recycled and peddled back on the streets.

PDEA chair, Director General Moro Virgilio M. Lazo led the destruction of more than 725 kilograms of shabu, other dangerous drugs and controlled precursors and essential chemicals at the Integrated Waste Management, Inc. facility in Bgy. Aguado, Trece Martirez City, Cavite.

The total volume of the confiscated drugs which were incinerated was put at 1,288,799.7371 grams. They include nearly 530 kilograms of shabu or 529,704.6 grams seized by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in Mexico, Pampanga in September last year.

As ordered by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., more shabu and other prohibited substances seized by the PDEA, the PNP and other law enforcement agencies will be destroyed this year upon order of the court. Both Lazo and PNP chief, General Benjamin C. Acorda Jr. have vowed another major anti-drug campaign this year with the assurance that confiscated drug evidence are securely locked in their storage facilities before being incinerated.

The PDEA chief said that apart from shabu, the bulk of the illegal drugs and CPECS consisted of 535,352.3195 grams of marijuana, 3,219.0132 grams of MDMA or ecstasy, and 7,423.58 grams of cocaine.

He added that these dangerous drugs and controlled precursors and essential chemicals (CPECs) comprise evidence seized from various anti-drug operations conducted by PDEA together with counterpart law enforcement and military units.

The pieces of drug evidence were destroyed through thermal decomposition or thermolysis. Exposed to temperatures of over 1,000 degrees centigrade, all dangerous drugs are completely decomposed or broken down and are impossible to reconstitute.

Representatives from the Department of Justice, Department of the Interior and Local Government, local government officials, the PNP and other law enforcement agencies and non-government organizations witnessed the destruction of the drugs.

The Supreme Court has reminded all Regional Trial Courts to strictly comply with the requirements of Section 21 (4) of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 on the immediate destruction of confiscated illegal drugs weighing five kilograms or more.

The law provides that “after the filing of the criminal case, the court shall, within 72 hours, conduct an ocular inspection” of the confiscated, seized illegal drugs or precursor chemicals and “through the PDEA shall within 24 hours thereafter proceed with the destruction or burning of the same”, provided, that a representative sample, duly weighed and recorded is retained.

From July 1, 2022 to last November 30, the agency has led the destruction of nearly P34 billion worth of confiscated shabu and around P274 million worth of marijuana plants and seedlings. Also incinerated during the period were around P5.3 billion worth of cocaine, MDMA, Diazepam, Ephedrine, Ketamine, Codeine, GBL, liquid marijuana, liquid meth, Amphetamine, Methylephedrine, Toluene, Nitrazepam, Dimythyl Sulfone and Midazolam.

Last October, the PDEA chief led the destruction at the same facility of nearly P6 billion worth of shabu and other dangerous drugs and substances seized by Marcos government agents since 2022.

The destroyed drugs are composed of 274 kilograms of methamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu) seized at the Manila International Container Port last October 6 and the 208 kilograms of Dimethyl Sulfone, a shabu extender that was recovered by the National Bureau of Investigation in Mabalacat, Pampanga on August 25.

The destroyed stockpile of illegal drugs had a total weight of 1,019,204.7581 grams. They are composed of 471,478.0639 grams of shabu, 312,993.9424 grams of Marijuana and 208,909.00 grams of Dimethyl Sulfone which were initially reported by the NBI as shabu although they turned out to be shabu extenders during a laboratory examination.

Officials explained that Dimethyl sulfone is a cutting agent and the same as an ‘adulterant’ which, when added to a kilo of processed shabu will produce more than a kilo of the so-called ‘poor man’s cocaine.’

Last March, the agency also destroyed ₱19.9 billion or 3.7 tons worth of dangerous drugs in Cavite. The destruction was billed as an unprecedented event, making it the largest in terms of volume and value in the country’s history of drug law enforcement.

The PDEA has aired its full support to a bill seeking the prompt destruction of seized illegal drugs in in the country to put an end to the cycle of drug pilferage and recycling.

“The bill, once approved by Congress, can be a huge prevention effort against drug pilferage and recycling. Prohibited drugs must be destroyed once and for all before they reach the hands of intended consumers hence, dismissing any communal inkling that those seized by authorities are being recycled or peddled back in the streets,” the Agency said in a statement.

The agency said House of Representatives Bill 9668, or the proposed “Prompt Dangerous Drugs Destruction Act of 2023,” would also give it greater leverage to act on its vested authority to burn seized illegal drugs.

It also welcomed the bill’s provision mandating all law enforcement units to promptly destroy seized illegal drugs no longer needed as evidence in court through incineration facilities for free.

“The agency has no destruction provision at its disposal and relies heavily on the use of accredited waste management facilities to destroy illegal drugs. The availability of incineration and cremation facilities free of charge would serve the purpose,” it said.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Alfred P. Dalizon