Cement firm incinerates P167M in illegal drugs

NORZAGARAY, Bulacan, Philippines—Cement giant Holcim Philippines’  plant in this town served as the biggest incinerator yet for two tons of illegal drugs worth P167 million that the courts used as evidence  and ordered destroyed.

Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) officials on Friday oversaw the destruction of plastic packages containing marijuana, cocaine, ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, benzylpiperazine, ecstasy, valium, ketamine, methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu, poppy seeds and expired medicines.

These drugs and equipment were used in the prosecution of drug suspects in 46 courts of Bulacan, Rizal, Pampanga and Metro Manila.

Some of the drugs and paraphernalia were also held by the Bureau of Customs.

The materials were used as fuel for the cement kiln of the Holcim facility in Barangay Matictic here, according to Bobby Sajonia, plant manager.

Undersecretary Jose Gutierrez Jr., who is also PDEA director general, said tapping Holcim’s various plants to destroy illegal drugs was cost-effective for government.

“Instead of spending more than P200,000 [to] destroy [drugs and drug paraphernalia], the government is spending nothing [by donating the materials to Holcim as fuel],” he said.

He said Holcim’s plant in the Visayas was the first cement facility the government  used to destroy confiscated illegal drugs.

Sajonia said their cement kiln can burn and destroy up to two tons of what he described as “alternative fuel.”

In many Luzon towns, Holcim has been collecting plastic refuse as additional fuel for its plants.

Sajonia said the facility does not just burn the materials but also treats the emission so nothing toxic is released into the environment.

When asked, Gutierrez said law enforcers could tie up with cement plants closest to their areas to dispose of confiscated narcotics. In places like Baguio City, police officials occasionally burn confiscated marijuana in parks and open fields.