To ensure that the seized shabu does not find its way back to the streets, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Wednesday led the destruction of confiscated illegal drugs, including nearly PHP9 billion worth of “floating shabu” recently recovered by fishermen off the coasts of northern Luzon.
President Marcos witnessed the confirmatory testing of random samples of the total 1,530.647 kilos of shabu, marijuana, cocaine, and ecstasy before their destruction at the Clean Leaf International Corp., a waste management company in Capas, Tarlac.
Fishermen recovered the illegal drugs off the coasts of Zambales, Pangasinan, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, and Cagayan.
“Pumunta lang tayo rito dahil nais kong makita kung ano ba talaga ‘yung buong sistema mula sa pagkahuli ng mga droga, tapos sa pag-testing, tapos finally sa pag-destroy sa mga nahuling drugs,” President Marcos said.
“Dahil kailangan tiyakin natin na ‘yung mga nahuhuling drugs ay talagang sinisira at wala ng pag-asa na bumalik pa, na maibenta pa, na makuha,” the President added.
According to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), the entire destruction process, involving thermal decomposition, will take 24 hours, with the incineration and cooling processes each lasting 10 to 12 hours.
Under the process, the prohibited substances are incinerated inside a secured chamber at 700 degrees Celsius, ensuring that the chemical compounds will be completely decomposed.
“So after nainit ng 700 degrees Celsius, it will not be shabu anymore. It will not be marijuana anymore. It will not be any drug anymore. Hindi na talaga– sirang-sira na ito. So that’s what we are here to witness,” President Marcos said.
Among the illegal drugs destroyed were the 1,304.604 kilos of recovered floating packs of shabu valued at PhP8.87 billion, which fishermen discovered in recent weeks.
Citing the Dangerous Drug Regulation (DDB) Regulation No. 1 Series of 2002, PDEA said the recovered shabu was destroyed based on a sworn certification issued by the PDEA Director-General since no person was arrested and no criminal case was filed.
The President was joined by PDEA Director General Undersecretary Isagani Nerez, Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Juanito Victor Remulla, and Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) Secretary Oscar Valenzuela in the event.
The Marcos administration’s campaign against illegal drugs resulted in the interdiction of PhP62 billion worth of prohibited drugs since June 2022. | PND
