PDEA bares evidence room with P22B worth of drugs

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) showed to the public their evidence room, which contains 2,700 kilos of drugs worth P22 billion amid allegations of recycling, according to a report by Ivan Mayrina on GMA's 24 Oras.

"Kung nandito na po sa loob ng PDEA ang ebidensya, there is absolutely no way na may makakuha pa nito para ilabas ulit," Derrick Carreon, director of the PDEA laboratory service, said. 

The entrance of the evidence room is filled with CCTV cameras.

The first door has three locks whose keys are kept safe by three different people and, upon opening the lock, the fingerprint scan of an authorized personnel is required.

Once open, the first door will reveal a second door with a new lock.

The evidence room is fully airconditioned, has a dehumidifier, and several cameras.

There is an evidence inventory information system and each piece of evidence contains an RFID and a barcode.

Drugs may be brought outside only upon the requirement of the court for presentation or when they are being moved to PDEA's office in Cavite for burning upon court order.

Several times in a year, officials make an inventory of the drugs and surprise audits are conducted by the Commission on Audit.

"Kapag nag-inventory po tayo, ano siya, transparent and, at the same time, impartial because there are several members and we go over the pieces of evidence one by one," Carreon said.

Similarly, the evidence room of PNP can only be accessed by a few people.

According to the inventory of shabu of the PNP Crime Lab, the national headquarters is in custody of 40,197 kilos of shabu.  Meanwhile, a total of  421,439 kilos of shabu are in all police crime labs nationwide from 2016 to the present.

Lieutenant Colonel Arturo Albert, chief of the chemistry division, assured the public that recycling will not happen to drugs under their custody. —Joahna Lei Casilao/LDF, GMA News