PDEA-7 burns P374.6M illegal drugs from Central Visayas

Illegal drugs worth P374.6 million, which were confiscated by authorities in Central Visayas, were burned at the crematorium of the Cosmopolitan Funeral Homes in Cebu City on Thursday afternoon, June 6, 2024. | Emmariel Ares

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Multiple packs of illegal drugs worth over P374.6 million were destroyed by law enforcers in Central Visayas on Thursday afternoon, June 6, 2024.

The destruction activity was held at the Cosmopolitan Funeral Homes located along the Junquera street in Cebu City at around 2:00 p.m.

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The inventory included 54.85 kilos of shabu, 2.36 kilos of marijuana, 35.41 millimeters of nalbuphine, 231 grams of ephedrine, and other kinds of dangerous drugs.

Nalbuphine is a type of pain medicine injected into the body to affect the central nervous system while ephedrine is a medicine used to treat a clinically significant hypotension.

Data from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Central Visayas (PDEA-7) revealed that the confiscated shabu was valued at P373,034,153.84 while marijuana was worth P284,002.48.

Nalbuphine was worth P7,082, ephedrine was estimated at P1,156,800, and a mix of ephedrine and meth was valued at P147,212.67.

The pieces of drug evidence, which the court issued an order to allow its destruction through burning, had a total value of P374,629,250.99.

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PDEA-7 burns illegal drugs, where it came from

According to PDEA-7, the drugs were confiscated during operations from 2010 to 2024.

The destruction activity on Thursday was the biggest one since 2017, according to PDEA-7 regional director Emerson Margate.

On October 12, 2023, authorities disposed of P330.5 million worth of illegal drugs at the same cremation office in Cebu City.

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.

According to Margate, there will likely be another destruction activity in the coming months as there are more pieces of drug evidence for disposal from other parts of the region like Negros Oriental.

“Kung mapapansin niyo, yung mga dinestroy natin ngayon [was] mostly from Bohol, Cebu province, and the three highly-urbanized cities. Hindi pa natin nakuha yung sa Negros Oriental province and other branches dito sa different regional trial courts natin sa Cebu City, Lapu-Lapu, and Mandaue,” he said.

(If you noticed, the ones we destroyed now [was] mostly from Bohol, Cebu Province and the three highly-urbanized cities. We still had not gotten those from Negros Oriental Province and other branches here in the different regional trial courts in Cebu City, Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue.)

Rise in recovered drugs explained

In the recent months, there has been a considerable increase in the quantity of illegal drugs confiscated by authorities in Central Visayas.

Among these is the P40.8 million worth of shabu confiscated from a big-time drug pusher during a drug sting in Cebu City on Monday, June 3.

Margate said that this rise in recovered drugs was a product of their collaborative efforts to enhance the campaign against illegal drugs together with other law enforcement units across the region.

“Unang una, maattribute din natin ito sa collaboration natin sa law enforcement units. And yung holistic approach na ginagawa natin dito sa Region 7. I’m happy to announce sa lahat, na kami dito, especially sa law enforcement units, meron po tayong not just with the PNP and the police, we have created an intelligence-fusion taskforce. PNP, police, the AFP, the NBI, the Philippine Coast Guard, including the BJMP,” he said.

(First off, we can attribute this to the collaboration of our law enforcement units. And the holistic approact that was done here in Region 7. I’m happy to announce to all that we here especially the law enforcement units, we still have not just the PNP and the police, we have created an intelligence-fusion taskforce. PNP, police, the AFP, the NBI, the Philippine Coast Guard and including the BJMP.)

“Because of this collaborative effort, mas marami tayong nakukuhang intel reports na naproprocess natin. And with that, it resulted to very successful operations na nakita natin ngayon,” added Margate.

(Because of this collaborative effort, we have gathered several intel reports that we have already processed. And with that, it resulted to very successful operations that we saw now.)

Members of community role

Furthermore, he highlighted that the members of the community had been taking a more active role in helping authorities eradicate the supply of drugs.

In order to erase doubts that the drugs confiscated by law enforcers from drug suspects were not being recycled, the officials in attendance to the activity also narrated the process of collection, storage, and turn-over of the pieces of evidence before disposal.

Margate assured that the handling of all the drugs had been very stringent and that every step was being strictly monitored.

“It was explained earlier by our regional chief laboratory kung paano, gaano ka-stringent yung turnover ng drugs sa amin. Same also with the PNP, sa crime laboratory nila. Hindi lang isang tao yung naghahawak niyan sa evidence room natin. Sa amin po tatlo, I believe ganun rin sa PNP. And it is monthly inventory, may semi-annual tayo na inventory,” he said.

(It was explained earlier by our regional chief laboratory how stringent the turnover of drugs to us was. Same also with the PNP, their crime laboratory. It is not only one person that is responsible for our evidence room. I believe it is also with the PNP. And it is a monthly inventory, there is also a semi-annual inventory.)

“Wala po sigurong papayag sa amin na makulong. Ako po, masasama rin po akong makulong kung hayaan kung mawala yung [drugs]. It is really very hard na mawala pa yun sa possession. Tapos equipped pa tayo ng CCTV. Ibang unit, bang office sa amin yung nagmomonitor. So ganun po ka-stringent,” added Margate.

(Nobody among us would agree that we will be jailed. I, for one, will be included in jail if I will ignore that they [the drugs] will disappear. It is really very hard that it will still disappear while in our possession. Then we also have a CCTV. It is another unit from another office that will monitor us. So that is how stringent that is.)