DRUG DESTRUCTION. Arnold Bustamante, president of the Cebu Federation of Beat Journalists and senior reporter of DyHP Radio Mindanao Network witnesses the destruction of PHP374.6 million worth of illegal drugs at the Cebu Cosmopolitan Funeral Homes’ crematorium on Thursday (June 6, 2024). PDEA-7 spokesperson Leia Alcantara said the agency has destroyed a total of PHP1.86 billion worth of illegal drugs since 2017. (Photo courtesy of Decemay Padilla)
CEBU CITY – The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in Central Visayas (Region 7) on Thursday said it destroyed a total of PHP1.86 billion worth of illegal drugs seized in the region since 2017.
Leia Alcantara, spokesperson of PDEA-7, said around 268 kgs of shabu, more than 155 kgs of marijuana, and more or less 3,000 Methylenedioxymethamphetamine commonly known as “Ecstasy” pills, and other designer drugs were destroyed in the region.
On Thursday, the agency destroyed another PHP374.6 million worth of illegal drugs.
“We have destroyed 54.85 kilos of shabu, 2.36 kilos of marijuana, 35.41 ml nalbuphine, and 231 grams of ephedrine at the Cebu Cosmopolitan Funeral Homes’ crematorium,” Alcantara said.
The volume of illegal drugs destroyed on Thursday was the biggest since 2017.
The smallest was in 2017 when the agency burned PHP10.05 million worth of shabu, designer drugs and expired medicines.
The 47.8 kilos of shabu, 2 kilos of marijuana, 5 grams of cocaine, 932 grams of ephedrine, 613 mL of nalbuphine, and other drugs worth PHP330.5 million were destroyed on Feb. 18, 2023, while the PHP83 million worth of 28 kilos of shabu and 163 grams of marijuana were destroyed on Oct. 12, 2023.
In 2019, the illegal drugs destroyed were worth PHP194.2; PHP 77.6 million and PHP12.4 million in 2020; PHP152.6 million, PHP21.5 million, and PHP62.3 million in 2021; and PHP99.6 million, PHP256.4 million, and PHP83.9 million. (PNA)
