PDEA DESTROYS P2.5B WORTH OF ILLEGAL DRUGS

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) destroyed on Friday over P2.5 billion worth of narcotics seized in several antidrug operations around Metro Manila.

PDEA Director General Aaron Aquino oversaw the destruction of the illegal drugs at the Integrated Waste Management Inc. thermal facility in Barangay Aguado, Trece Martirez City.

In a statement, Aquino said a ton of assorted narcotics worth P2.56 billion was destroyed on orders of the court after these were presented as evidence in several resolved drug cases.

The PDEA chief lauded the different regional trial courts in the cities of Caloocan, Las Piñas, Mandaluyong, Manila, Marikina, Navotas, Pasig, and Valen- zuela, for the speedy resolution of the drug cases that “led to the prompt destruction of these illegal drugs.”

The bulk of the destroyed narcotics were seized by PDEA agents and other law enforcement agencies in antidrug operations and were no longer needed as court evidence.

Among the illegal drugs destroyed through thermal decomposition were “shabu” (crystal meth), marijuana, ephedrine, cocaine, toluene, chloromethamphetamine hydrochloride, and expired medicines, with a total weight of 1,012.4 kilograms.

The PDEA director general explained that thermal decomposition, or thermolysis, is the process by which compounds are broken down into single units through the application of heat, making reconstruction of the substances impossible.