DESTROYED. Lawmen destroy marijuana plants with an estimated cost of PHP4.7 million in Ilocos Sur province in this undated photo. Authorities said cultivators have been identified and will be the subject of arrest warrants. (Photo courtesy of Ilocos Sur PNP)
LAOAG CITY – Full-grown marijuana plants with an estimated value of PHP4.7 million have been destroyed in Ilocos Sur province, a police official said on Thursday.
Ilocos regional police director Brig. Gen. John Chua said a total of 20,500 marijuana plants and five kilograms of dried marijuana were uprooted and destroyed from plantation sites in Ilocos Sur and Benguet this week.
The plantations, covering a total estimated land area of 3,280 square meters, were discovered following an operation by the Philippine National Police based in Ilocos Sur and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Regional Field Office 1.
The plantation sites were at the the borders of Sitio Nagawa in Barangay Caoayan, Sugpon, Ilocos Sur and Sitio Culiang in Barangay Tacadang, Kibungan, Benguet for Team 1 and Sitio Nakneng and Sitio Nagawa in Barangay Caoayan , Sugpon, Ilocos Sur and Sitio Culiang in Barangay Tacadang, Kibungan, Benguet for Team 2.
“The uprooting and destruction of these marijuana plants are already good feats. I am also glad that we have identified the cultivators here, in that way, their arrest would be made easier once warrants we're already given,” Chua said. (PNA)
