ILOCOS SUR — The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Region 1 conducted the incineration of an initial batch of illegal drugs recently discovered by fishermen in the seas of Ilocos Sur.

The event took place at Angels Crematorium in the Public Cemetery of Don Lorenzo Querubin, Caoayan, Ilocos Sur, on Monday, 8 July.

Due to weight limitations, the subsequent batch of illegal drugs will be incinerated only after the first batch has been fully disposed of.

PDEA Region 1 Director, Joel Plaza, emphasized the importance of this procedure: “These drugs will be destroyed through incineration. This is to ensure the public that these seized, confiscated and surrendered drugs are never recycled or returned to the streets. This is in compliance with the guidelines set by the Custody and Disposition of Seized Dangerous Drugs under Section 21, Article 2 of Republic Act 1965, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, and Dangerous Drugs Board Regulation No. 1, Series of 2002,” Plaza said.

According to the PDEA, the confiscated drugs came from the recovery of honest citizens, or the fishermen, in Ilocos Sur, and from the various courts of the Ilocos region, which has completed and resolved their cases.

“Currently, the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs, ICAD, Law Enforcement Cluster, is now strengthening our various programs together with our very active local government units, such as the Provincial Government of Ilocos Sur, to deter the entry of these drugs to our communities. It is of great pride and moral muster by both the law enforcement side and the judiciary system of this region that these illegal products are now in their destroying lives. It is good to know our streets are not decayed by such malignant societal cancer. Therefore, I urge everyone around me to continue our fight. If not for ourselves, then for our children, for our children’s children. For when the time of wriggling comes, we would not be judged by what we are, or what we have gained, but of what we have done.“ Plaza said.

The event underscores the commitment of law enforcement and local authorities to combatting illegal drugs and ensuring the safety and well-being of communities in the region.

A source talking to DAILY TRIBUNE anonymously, said that the drugs are in fact from the “Golden Triangle” which consists of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand.