The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) destroyed P25 million worth of shabu seized in Bohol, along with other illegal drugs recovered from various localities in Central Visayas, during a ceremony in Cebu City on Thursday morning.
According to PDEA 7 public information officer Leia Alcantara, the illegal drugs were burned at the crematorium of the Cosmopolitan Funeral Homes at past 9 a.m.
The four kilos of shabu were seized from at least 30 individuals who were arrested in Bohol from 2015 to 2018 and whose cases were already resolved.
The shabu from Bohol which were under the custody of the Bohol Police Provincial office laboratory in Tagbilaran were turned over on September 14, 2021 to the PDEA which in turn transported the illegal drugs to Cebu.
Alcantara said the shabu had to be shipped to Cebu City for destruction as Bohol lacked the facility for ingenerating the illegal drugs.
“Napadala lang diri kay last time nag attempt ta diha kung naa bay facility nga naay capacity to destroy kay naa man guy certain temperature na ma-reach pero wala man mao since naa may mga decided cases diha with court order gidala nalang diri para diri nalang sunugon,” she said.
Alcantara added that once a crematorium facility that meets the standards needed by authorities to burn illegal drugs is established in Bohol, they will no longer have to transport the contraband to Cebu.
“Kung pohon naa ta diha, possible gyud kaayo na diha na ta mag destroy para dili na e-travel diri,” she said.
Also burned along with the shabu confiscated in Bohol were drugs seized in various localities in the region.
Alcantara said they burned a total of 8,078 grams of shabu, 177 grams of marijuana, 20,600 milliliters of nubain or nalbuphine hydrochloride, and 0.04 grams of cocaine.
All of the illegal drugs burned were estimated to be worth over P62 million. (A. Doydora)