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| The destroyed drugs were valued at P1,295,050,354. approximately USD 26,543,533. (Photo from PH News Agency) |
[Asia News = Reporter Reakkana] MANILA — The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) on Wednesday destroyed P1.295 billion (USD 26,543,53) worth of seized illegal drugs in a ceremony in Trece Martires City, Cavite, PH Inquirer reported. The drugs were destroyed using thermal decomposition or thermolysis — the process of breaking down chemical compounds by heat. According to PDEA, the seized drugs were destroyed at 1,000 degrees Celsius.
“We want to assure the public that all seized illegal drugs under the custody of PDEA will all be destroyed, thus allaying fears of recycling,” PDEA director general Wilkins Villanueva said in a statement. He added that the destruction was in response to the directive of President Rodrigo Duterte to immediately destroy all seized drugs. Destroyed at the Integrated Waste Management facility in Barangay Aguado, Trece Martires cities were 912,685.73 grams of shabu (crystal meth), liquid shabu, toluene, marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy, pseudoephedrine, ephedrine, opium, diazepam, nitrazepam, alprazolam, methylephedrine, ketamine, methylphenidate, and expired medicines and GBL (Gamma-Butyrolactone).
The destroyed drugs were valued at P1,295,050,354. PDEA said the seized illegal drugs were destroyed in accordance with the guidelines established in Section 21, Article II of Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, and Dangerous Drugs Board Regulation No. 1, Series of 2002 for the custody and disposition of seized drug evidence.
