6 new regional forensic labs eyed this year – PDEA

Undersecretary Arturo Cacdac Jr., director general of PDEA. Photo from https://www,pnp.gov.ph

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) is expecting six new regional forensic laboratories this year to aid its anti-drug operations.

Undersecretary Arturo Cacdac Jr., director general of PDEA, said the six laboratories would be set up in Region 4A, Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), Region 2, Region 3 and Region 8.

“Hopefully we can completely operationalize all PDEA Regional laboratories this 2014,” Cacdac said in a statement.

The PDEA chief said forensic laboratories are crucial in hastening drug cases since suspected illegal drugs can be quickly examined and analyzed.

Under Republic Act 9165 or the Dangerous Drugs Act, PDEA is required to establish forensic laboratories in every city and province “in order to facilitate action on seized or confiscated drugs, thereby hastening the destruction of the same without delay.”

For the past years, PDEA only had one laboratory, located at the national headquarters in Quezon City. In 2013, 10 laboratories were made operational.

The forensic laboratory in Calamba, Laguna, under PDEA Regional Office 4A will be inaugurated on March 25. Cacdac said it is capable of conducting forensic examinations using Thin Layer Chromatography, which is useful in separating organic compounds and checking the purity of dangerous drugs.

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