TRECE MARTIRES CITY, Cavite — The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) led the eradication of P9,102,467,185.99 worth of dangerous drugs at the Integrated Waste Management Inc. in Barangay Aguado here on Thursday.
Assistant Secretary Renato Gumban, officer in charge of PDEA, Undersecretary Earl Saavedra of the Dangerous Drugs Board and Calabarzon police chief BGen. Paul Kenneth Lucas were present during the destruction of the illegal drugs confiscated by police and PDEA agents in different operations.
The destroyed stockpile has a total weight of 2,435,619.8626 grams, including 1,293,934.2149 grams of shabu, 720,898.6564 grams of marijuana and 359,752 grams of ephedrine.
Included in the destruction was the 1.2 tons of shabu seized in an operation on April 15, 2024 in Barangay Pinagkurusan, Alitagtag, Batangas.
The illegal drugs were destroyed through thermal decomposition.
The PDEA, in a statement, said at a temperature of over 1,000 degrees centigrade, all dangerous drugs are completely decomposed and are impossible to reconstitute.
Representatives from the Department of Justice, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Philippine National Police (PNP), city government and nongovernmental organizations also witnessed the destruction of the drugs.
Drug money at polls
Ahead of next year's midterm polls, the PNP, meanwhile, said it is keeping a close watch against illegal drug operations which may be used to fund election-related activities of some politicians.
"Sabi po nila kapag malapit na ang eleksyon marami po kailangan na pera. Tunay po 'yan, ito na ang nangyayari. Sino ang nagpapadala. So 'yun po (They say when elections are near, many are in dire need of money. That is true. That is what is happening. Who is sending money? That's it.) We have to talk to PDEA and discuss what's our strategy," PNP chief Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil said in a radio interview.
Marbil said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has directed the PNP to mount aggressive operations against syndicates and high-profile drug personalities.
The PNP chief added this shift of focus in the government's anti-drug campaign has produced good results.
"If you will see, we are much better than the previous six months kasi dito ang tingin natin every six months ang evaluation, kung maganda 'yung statistics natin (because now, we are having an evaluation every six months, as to whether we have good statistics) but after that, I just want it quarterly. Gusto ko quarterly kung gumaganda (I want to see if we have improving results on a quarterly basis) and we have the resources, especially right now," he added.
During Tuesday's command conference with the Chief Executive, the PNP reported the conduct of 92,904 operations, which led to the arrest of 116,740 individuals and seizure of P11.89 billion worth of illegal drugs.
WITH REPORTS FROM PHILIPPINE NEWS AGENCY
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