MARIJUANA PLANTATION. Members of the Cebu City Mobile Force Company (CMFC) conduct tagging before uprooting some of the 25,000 stalks of fully-grown marijuana in an operation at Sitio Mit-ol, Barangay Tagbao in Cebu City on Saturday (Aug. 19, 2023). CMFC chief, Lt. Col. Dexter Calacar said they are filing on Tuesday (Aug. 22) drug charges against the suspected marijuana cultivator, Primitivo Ardimer, who is now at large. (Photo courtesy of CMFC)
CEBU CITY – The Mobile Force Company (CMFC) of Cebu City is set to file charges against a farmer, who eluded arrest on Aug. 19 after it was discovered he has cultivated 25,000 stalks of fully-grown marijuana worth PHP10 million in the upland sitio of Mit-ol in Barangay Tagbao here.
Lt. Col. Dexter Calacar, CMFC commander, said charges of violation of Article 2, section 16 of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drug Act of 2002 will be filed Tuesday against Primitivo Ardimer, a resident of the neighboring sitio of Mapa in the same barangay but one who allegedly tended the prohibited cannabis plant in the area.
The operatives, along with the naval soldiers from the Naval Forces Central, conducted a “prophylactic patrol” on Saturday in relation to the fifth day of the regionwide simultaneous anti-criminality and law enforcement operations when a concerned citizen tipped them off the plantation.
The police immediately validated the report and saw two vast lands – one planted with 15,000 stalks of marijuana with an estimated value of PHP6 million and the other with 10,000 stalks at PHP4 million worth.
“Our operating team immediately uprooted the said marijuana plants for destruction, the witnesses were present during the burning,” Calacar said told the Philippine News Agency (PNA), referring to village councilors Fernando Arcilla and Felix Dilao, as well as The Freeman reporter Romeo Marantal.
“Intel personnel of this unit (CMFC) are conducting follow-up operations to gather more personal information against the said cultivator,” Calacar said, adding that their further background check on the suspect might lead to the discovery of more marijuana farms in the hinterland here. (PNA)
