NEARLY P1.6 billion worth of fully-grown marijuana plants and seedlings have been destroyed by the Cordillera Police Regional Office since last April with the local police further stepping up their efforts to locate and destroy secret cannabis sites in the region on orders of Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, General Guillermo Lorenzo T. Eleazar, the Journal Group learned yesterday.

The top cop earlier ordered the Cordillera police headed by Brigadier Gen. Ronald O. Lee to further intensify their ‘search-and-destroy’ operations against clandestine marijuana plantations sites in the region and arrest the possibility they may be transported to Metro Manila and other urban parts of the country.

Brig. Gen. Lee said that from April to last Tuesday, their operations have resulted in the uprooting of nearly 5.3 million pieces of fully-grown marijuana plants valued at P1.06 billion and over 108,000 pieces of seedlings worth P4.4 million and the confiscation of around 4.4 tons of dried cannabis leaves, marijuana oil , seeds and hashish worth nearly P528 million.

The member of Philippine Military Academy (PMA) ‘Tanglaw Diwa’ Class of 1992 said their conduct of Oplan: Herodotus, a week-long simultaneous marijuana eradication drive in the region which started last September 23 led to the destruction of nearly P679 million worth of marijuana crops and its by-products.

The cannabis crops were found in 72 sites in the provinces of Benguet, Kalinga and Mountain Province by operatives of the Cordillera police force with support from the PNP Drug Enforcement Group (PNP-DEG), PNP Special Action Force and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.

Grown abundantly in the cold Cordillera mountain ranges and other parts of Luzon and Mindanao, marijuana, next to shabu is the 2nd most abused drug in the country where it fetches a price of around P5,000 a kilo in the local underground market.

The PNP has launched a massive effort against marijuana to prevent syndicates from flooding the country’s urban areas with the prohibited crops and turn it into an ‘alternative’ for shabu amid the major setbacks suffered recently by Chinese-run syndicates at the hands of the government.

Those operations led to the seizure of more than P5.5 billion worth of shabu and the neutralization of a major drug trafficking ring being run by a group of rogue Chinese nationals. Four armed Chinese drug smugglers were killed while seven others, three of them also Chinese nationals were arrested in the series of major anti-narcotics operations in the provinces of Zambales, Bataan and Cavite.

The PNP Drug Enforcement Group (PNP-DEG) headed by Brig. Gen. Remus B. Medina have also joined the PNP’s war on marijuana.

“These operations are part of our Oplan: Herodotus aimed at searching for and destroying all clandestine marijuana farms in Cordillera region as ordered by Gen. Eleazar,” Lee said.

The official added that operations are still underway to identify, arrest and file criminal charges against the maintainers of the mariuana sites.

Marijuana, next to shabu, remains the 2nd most abused drug in The Philippines. Grown abundantly in the cold mountain ranges of Cordillera region, a kilo of marijuana normally fetches a price of P5,000 a kilo in the underground market.

From July 1, 2016 to last July 31, the PDEA headed by Director General Wilkins M. Villanueva said that nearly 6.6 tons of dried marijuana leaves have been seized and destroyed by government agents.

RA 9165 refers to cannabis sativa or commonly known as ‘marijuana’ or ‘Indian Hemp.’ Possession of 10 grams or more of marijuana resin or marijuana resin oil or 500 grams of marijuana is considered a non-bailable offense punishable by life imprisonment and a fine ranging from P500,000 to P10 million.

Cultivation or culture of marijuana is also an offense carrying the same penalties.

The law says the land or portions thereof and/or greenhouses on which any of said plants is cultivated or cultured shall be confiscated and escheated in favor of the State, unless the owner thereof can prove lack of knowledge of such cultivation or culture despite the exercise of due diligence on his/her part.

If the land involved is part of the public domain, the maximum penalty provided for under the law shall be imposed upon the offender. The maximum penalty under RA 9165 shall also be imposed upon any any person, who organizes, manages or acts as a “financier” of marijuana cultivation.

There have been a growing number of marijuana-related arrests in Cordillera and nearby areas as well as Metro Manila since last year as the PNP stepped up its border patrols and used K-9 teams and intelligence tips to intercept big-time marijuana couriers, mostly coming from Cordillera region.

Since 2016, the Cordillera police, PDEA and other law enforcement agencies have conducted more than 1,000 marijuana eradication operations which led to the destruction of hundreds of cannabis plantation sites.