MANILA, Philippines 鈥� The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) on Wednesday destroyed P1.295 billion worth of seized illegal drugs in a ceremony in Trece Martires City, Cavite.
The drugs were destroyed using thermal decomposition or thermolysis 鈥� the process of breaking down chemical compounds by heat.聽 According to PDEA, the seized drugs were destroyed at聽 1,000 degrees Celsius.
鈥淲e want to assure the public that all seized illegal drugs under the custody of PDEA will all be destroyed, thus allaying fears of recycling,鈥� 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 shabu.
Destroyed at the Integrated Waste Management facility in聽 Barangay Aguado, Trece Martires City 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.
PDEA key officials, local officials of Barangay Aguado, Trece Martires City, representatives from the Philippine National Police and other law enforcement agencies, Department of Justice, and Department of the Interior and Local Government, non-government organizations, and the media witnessed the destruction activity.
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