THE Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) destroyed on Thursday, February 8, 2024, over 725 kilograms of methamphetamine hydrochloride, locally known as shabu, and other illegal drugs with an estimated total value of more than P4.51 billion.
PDEA Director General Moro Virgilio Lazo led the destruction of the illegal drugs weighing a total of 1,288,799.7371 grams at the Integrated Waste Management Inc. (IWMI) in Barangay Aguado, Trece Martires City, Cavite.
The drugs destroyed include the 530 kilograms of shabu seized by the National Bureau of Investigation in an operation in Mexico, Pampanga in September 2023.
There were also 535,352.3195 grams of marijuana, 3,219.0132 grams of MDMA or ecstasy, and 7,423.58 grams of cocaine.
The substances were destroyed through thermal decomposition or thermolysis. Exposed to temperatures of over 1,000 degrees centigrade, all dangerous drugs are completely decomposed or broken down and are impossible to reconstitute.
“The destruction of the dangerous drugs is in compliance with the guidelines set on the custody and disposition of seized dangerous drugs under 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,” said Lazo. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)