Police Colonel Gemma Vinluan, Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) holds a press briefing on Friday, Sept. 27, 2019. | CDN Digital Photo/Alven Marie Timtim
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) is in favor of the immediate disposal of the confiscated illegal drugs after police buy-bust operations.
Police Colonel Gemma Vinluan, CCPO chief, told reporters the CCPO is willing to petition the court for the immediate incineration of seized drugs following its presentation in court, leaving only a sample of the drugs for “purity of evidence” purposes.
Vinluan gave this commitment in reaction to the call of Cebu City Councilor Antonio Cuenco for the police and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Central Visayas (PDEA-7) to provide an inventory of the confiscated illegal drugs in the last five years amid allegations that seized drugs were being recycled by “ninja cops.”
Read: Cuenco to police, PDEA: release inventory of drug hauls in past 5 years
According to Vinluan, the police have no authority to dispose of confiscated drugs since these became the responsibility of the Crime Laboratory, to which the police are required to turn over within 24 hours after an anti-drug operation.
But she said she personally favors disposing of the seized drugs immediately.
“Mag pirma tayo na gusto nating ipa dispose ang mga yan para walang issue ng recycling,” said Vinluan.
(Let us attest that want to dispose of these drugs so there would no longer be an issue about recycling.)
Vinluan, on the other hand, explained they could not conduct an inventory as requested by Cuenco since the seized drugs have long been turned over to the Crime Laboratory and if they conduct an inventory, they would be tampering on “the clain of custody” for the seized illicit drugs.
In relation to the issue of recycling, Vinluan revealed she planned to ask the policemen involved in drug busts to wear pants without pockets in order to avoid suspicion that they could be pocketing the seized drugs.
Vinluan added that she will also start frisking all policemen who are present during and after the operation to ensure transparency in buy-bust operations./elb