LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – More than P10.8 million worth of marijuana were successfully uprooted and destroyed by combined police operatives and anti-narcotics agents during an intensified marijuana eradication operation in the towns of Kibungan and Mankayan over the weekend.
In Kibungan, the joint operatives of Kibungan Municipal Police Station (MPS), PIU/PDEU-Benguet PPO, Regional Intelligence Division (RID)-PRO Cordillera, and PDEA-CAR discovered approximately 90 kilograms of dried marijuana stalks with fruiting tops in a communal forest in Sitio Ginawang, Barangay Poblacion.
The said marijuana was piled and concealed under a rock shade covered with plastic canvas and has a total Standard Drug Price (SDP) of P10,800.000.00.
Meanwhile, in Mankayan, the joint operatives of Mankayan MPS, Bugias MPS, 1st Benguet Provincial Mobile Force Company, PIU/PDEU-Benguet PPO, RID-PRO Cordillera, and 1502nd Maneuver Company of RMFB15 conducted marijuana eradication in Sitio Dowag, Barangay Guinaoang, which led to the discovery of 60 pieces of fully-grown marijuana plants with an SDP of P12,000.00.
All the discovered marijuana was documented and burned onsite, while enough samples were taken for submission to the Regional Forensic Unit-Cordillera for a qualitative test.
The Benguet police are actively pursuing investigations to identify additional marijuana plantation sites and apprehend those responsible for cultivation. By Dexter A. See
