Cebu City: Illegal drugs worth over P489M destroyed

Over P489M worth of illegal drugs were tossed into a thermal incinerator and burned during a destruction event held at a funeral parlor in downtown Cebu City on Thursday, November 14. | CDN Photo/ Emmariel Ares

CEBU CITY, Philippines — More than P489 million worth of illegal drugs that were seized within Central Visayas were destroyed on Thursday, November 14.

The confiscated pieces of drug evidence were burned at the thermal facility of the Cosmopolitan Funeral Homes Inc. along Junquera Street in Cebu City at around 9:00 a.m.

Spearheading the activity was Acting Regional Director Alex M. Tablate of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Central Visayas (PDEA 7) .

This destruction activity, which was the second for this year, is the biggest so far in terms of value of dangerous drugs and volume of shabu destroyed since 2017.

Pieces of drug evidence that were accumulated from anti-drug operations held in Bohol, Cebu province, Cebu City, Lapu-Lapu City, and Mandaue City over the years were burned on Thursday, November 14. | CDN Photo/ Emmariel Ares

The most recent inventory included a total of 71.83 kilos of shabu, 3.38 kilos of marijuana, 47 ml of nalbuphine hydrochloride, 55 tablets of ecstasy, and 47 grams of ephedrine hydrochloride.

Nalbuphine is a type of pain medicine injected into the body to affect the central nervous system.

Ephedrine, on the other hand, is a medicine used to treat a clinically significant hypotension.

Also included during the destruction were expired regulated drugs turned over by hospitals and pharmacies to PDEA 7.

In total, the destroyed substances were valued at P489,415,611.42.

Prior to the destruction through thermal decomposition, the substances were tested by chemists in front of witnesses to ensure that the substances were not replaced at any time during the chain of custody.

According to PDEA-7, the substances destroyed were confiscated during various PDEA and PNP operations from 2003 to 2024 in Cebu and Bohol provinces and the highly urbanized cities of Cebu, Mandaue, and Lapu-Lapu.

Since the first destruction activity in 2017, authorities in Central Visayas have destroyed more than P2.36 billion worth of dangerous drugs as of November this year. 

In his speech as the guest speaker, Presiding Judge Ruelo A. Saladaga of the Regional Trial Court 69 in Lapu-Lapu City, emphasized the vital role of a holistic strategy for the country’s anti-illegal drugs campaign. He also highlighted the courts’ strong commitment to upholding justice.

Tablate, for his part, expressed his gratitude to the stakeholders of their campaign against dangerous drugs in Central Visayas for their relentless contributions.