Benguet is second to Kalinga in terms of the number of anti-marijuana operations carried out by government forces and planting sites based on the record of the Police Regional Office-Cordillera.
From January to Dec. 2, PRO-Cor records show a total of P927 million-worth of marijuana in various forms were confiscated in Benguet, Ifugao, and Kalinga.
Bulk of marijuana plants worth P792 million was uprooted and destroyed in Kalinga followed by Benguet with P135M and Ifugao with P11,800.
The illegal plant takes form through the uprooted raw plant, seedlings, dried leaves, fruiting tops, stalks, seeds, and some in hashish form according to the PRO-Cor and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.
A total of 61 marijuana eradication operations each in Benguet and Kalinga and four operations were conducted in Ifugao during the same period.
Also, from January to Nov. 2, 29 arrests were made in relation to marijuana in various forms, which is slightly higher compared to 25 arrests made during the same period in 2021.
Benguet Police Provincial Office Acting Director Col. Damian Olsim said they recorded a decline in planting sites in the province unlike confiscations made in other provinces.
Olsim said Kalinga still has larger planting sites as compared to Benguet with planting sites monitored in Kayapa in Bakun and Badeo and Tacadang in Kibungan.
“The biggest planting site we found in Tacadang is about 500 to 600 square meters, and is far from the residential areas,” Olsim said.
The drones provided by Benguet Rep. Eric Yap to the 13 municipal police stations aided them in their anti-marijuana operations.
With the drones, the operatives can accurately track the planting sites unlike before where it takes days prior for the operatives to find the site.
Despite this, marijuana cultivators, who are mostly residents in the area, could still evade arrests because they can easily monitor the presence of government forces.
Olsim said he hopes with the opening of roads in the far-flung barangay of Tacadang, farming would be strengthened as a means to provide a permanent source of income for the residents, especially for those engaging in the illegal drug trade. – Ofelia C. Empian
April 27, 2024
