P12 million worth of illegal drugs ‘cremated’

CEBU, Philippines —  Around P12 million worth of confiscated illegal drugs were destroyed by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency 7 early morning yesterday.

At least one kilo of shabu, 21 kilos of marijuana leaves, ecstasy tablets and expired medicines were destroyed through thermal destruction at the Cosmopolitan Funeral Homes in Cebu City.

In just two months, the PDEA-7 has already destroyed at least P100 million worth of seized illegal drugs.

This has been the second round of the drug destruction that authorities have conducted.

Last October 13, more than P80 million of confiscated shabu, marijuana, party drugs and expired medicines were destroyed at the same facility.

“Mao ni siya ang na-approved sa court, kay as much as we would like to destroy all the evidences nga naa sa court karon, wala pa man gud siya maaprobahi kay pending pa ang kaso so kani lang sa atong gisunog,” said Attorney Levi Ortiz, PDEA-7 regional director.

Ortiz however said that their drug destruction will be continuous following the order of the President to destroy the seized illegal drugs.

According to Ortiz, there are still remaining confiscated pieces of evidence under their safekeeping as they are only waiting for the court’s approval for its destruction.

The destructed illegal drugs were confiscated in the operations conducted by the Philippine National Police and PDEA-7.

Cosmopolitan Funeral Homes offered its cremation facility for free for the destruction.

Ortiz further said that the destruction of seized illegal drugs is to prove to the public that recycling is not happening.

“Naa gyud ta’y mechanism to preserve and safekeep the integrity of all evidence,” Ortiz said.

Ortir further revealed that the distribution of illegal drugs in Cebu has slowed down.

“Honestly speaking, nihinay gyud ang distribution sa illegal drugs, dili lang tungod sa COVID, tungod sad sa atong gipahingusgan nga kampanya batok sa ilegal nga droga, in tandem of the Philippine National Police and other law enforcement agencies,” said Ortiz.

Ortiz added that attempts to sneak in illegal drugs into the province were intercepted due to the strengthened information sharing between the PDEA-7 and other law enforcement agencies. — GMR (FREEMAN)