By Helen Castaño | 03:55 PM June 07, 2024
Over P376. 4 million worth of illegal drugs were burned Thursday, June 6, 2024 by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) -7 and the Philippine National Police in the thermal incinerator of Cosmopolitan Funeral Homes in Junquera Street, Cebu City.
The 69 kilos of drugs were seized from different operations in Central Visayas.
The drugs consist of 55_kilos of shabu, more than 2.5 kilos of marijuana, 35 ML of nalbuphine, 231 grams of ephedrine and 24 grams of other drug substance.
In Cebu, 50 kilos of illegal drugs were seized.
The 4.5 kilos of shabu worth P31 million seized in Bohol were brought to Cebu City to be burned since only Cebu has the facility.
PDEA-7 Director Emerson Margate said it was the first destruction they have done this year and the biggest in value after 2017.
Margate said the drugs that were burned on Thursday showed the efforts of various law enforcement in the region.
The drugs were turned over by various branches of regional trial courts and law enforcement units in Bohol, Cebu City, Mandaue City, Lapu-Lapu City, and Cebu province.
Prior to the destruction of the drugs inside the crematorium, PDEA-7 chemists conducted a color test known as the “Simon’s test” on a sample of the confiscated drugs to check its legitimacy in front of multiple witnesses.
After this, each pack was tossed into the thermal incinerator and burned for around 15-20 minutes to completely destroy the substances. Smoke was seen coming out of the chimney of the cremation office during this process.
PDEA said the illicit drugs were destroyed because they were no longer needed as evidence.
