Malolos court inspects 827 kilos of shabu recovered by police, PDEA

July 30, 2020

The chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) said a Malolos court on Wednesday inspected the 827 kilos of methamphetamine crystals or shabu specimen recovered by the PNP- Drug Enforcement Group operatives with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in more than 25,000 anti-illegal drugs operations.

Police General Archie Gamboa,  with PDEA and representatives from RTC Branch 77, Malolos were present in the inspection held at Maringal Hall, Crime Laboratory Headquarters in Camp Crame.

This, after the Office of the Court Administrator in a July circular reminded all regional trial courts to comply with the requirements of Section 21(4) of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

The provision states that after filing of criminal cases, the court will inspect confiscated drugs within 72 hours and order their destruction within 24 hours of the inspection.

Gamboa welcomed the order and immediately coordinated with the concerned agency to speed up destruction of seized illegal drugs.

"The PNP is intensifying its anti-illegal drugs operations and we urgently need the help of judges to facilitate the issuance of court orders for the destruction of confiscated drugs,” he said.

"Now that the RTC of Malolos conducted an ocular inspection, we will just wait for the court to issue an order to turn over the confiscated illegal drugs to PDEA for proper disposal" he added.

Based on their data, from January to June, the PNP confiscated 1.57 metric tons of shabu and 2.9 metric tons of marijuana in 25,612 police operations and arrested 38,178 suspects.  Ella Dionisio/DMS