A composite team of the Benguet Police Provincial Office and the anti-narcotics group destroyed over P3 million worth of marijuana plants in three towns of Benguet.
BPPO Director, Col. Elmer E. Ragay, said joint personnel of Kapangan municipal police station (MPS), led by Lt. Melvin Cante, Benguet Drug Enforcement Unit (PDEU), Benguet Police Intelligence Branch (PIB), and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-Cordillera destroyed 15,000 fully grown marijuana plants with an estimated Dangerous Drugs Board value of P3M. The illegal plants were discovered in a 1,500-square meter lot in Barangay Beling-Belis.
The police conducted the eradication together with village officials on Jan. 9.
On Jan. 8, personnel of Bakun MPS led by Cpt. John Dangiwan, together with the PDEU, PIB, and PDEA-Cordillera also destoryed 1,060 fully grown marijuana plants with an estimated DDB value of P212,000 at Tubongan, Kayapa, Bakun. The illegal plants were discovered in a 270-square meter lot.
Personnel of Kibungan MPS, together with the same provincial units and PDEA also conducted marijuana eradication at Sitio Dupinas, Palina, Kibungan that resulted in the destruction of 120 fully grown marijuana plants with worth P24,000.
While the operating troops were scouring nearby areas for possible presence of marijuana plantation, the team also discovered five kilos of dried marijuana stalks worth P600,000 that was concealed on grasses.
The illegal plants were burned on site except for a few samples that will be submitted to the Regional Crime Laboratory Office for examination.
No cultivator was arrested during the operations.
Ragay lauded the operating troops for a job well done.
He said the Benguet Police is serious in its campaign against illegal drugs, adding that the recent operation should serve as a warning to those who engage in the cultivation of marijuana to stop their illegal activity. – BPPO release
April 27, 2024
