OVER P11 million worth of fully-grown marijuana (MJ) plants and seedlings were uprooted and destroyed by agents of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in separate anti-narcotics operations in the Cordillera region this week, a report to PNP-Officer-in-Charge (PNP-OIC) Lieutenant General Vicente D. Danao Jr. said on Friday.

PNP-Drug Enforcement Group (PNP-DEG) Director Brigadier Gen. Randy Q. Peralta said that an estimated P10.4 million worth of the prohibited crops were burned on-site by members of the DEG Special Operations Unit Cordillera and the Cordillera Police Regional Office headed by Brig. Gen. Ronald O. Lee during a marijuana eradication drive in Barangays Loccong and Ngibat in Tinglayan, Kalinga, early morning Thursday.

Brig. Gen. Peralta said that an estimated 52,000 fully-grown cannabis plants were uprooted during the operation spearheaded by the DEG SOU Cordillera headed by Lt. Col. Christopher Rey Natnat with the support of operatives from the Tinglayan and Lubuagan Municipal Police Stations(MPSs), the Kalinga Police Provincial Office (PPO), the Cordillera Police Regional Mobile Force Company, and the PNP Special Action Force’s 14th Special Action Battalion.

A similar operation in Sitio Mabilig in Bgy. Kayapa, Bakun, Benguet, on Wednesday destroyed more than P1.1 million worth of marijuana plants and dried stalks, said Brig. Gen. Lee.

Lee said that members of the Bakun MPS and the Benguet PPO led the operation.

No cultivators were arrested during the two operations, however.

“I congratulate our police troops in Luzon for yet another big accomplishment in our massive marijuana clearing operations and intensified offensive against illegal drugs aimed at ensuring a drug-free country,” Lt. Gen. Danao said as he congratulated the PNP-DEG and the Cordillera police force for their successful anti-marijuana raids. By Alfred Dalizon

AUTHOR PROFILE

Alfred P. Dalizon