GOVERNMENT troops have destroyed some P4 million worth of marijuana plants in the hinterlands of Lanao del Sur, the police reported Monday, June 20.

Police Colonel Richard Verceles, operations chief of the Area Police Command-Western Mindanao, said the marijuana plantation was destroyed in a raid by joint police and military forces around 6:30 a.m. Sunday, June 19, in the mountainous area of Bato-bato village, Maguing, Lanao del Sur.

But Verceles said that Kumander Lomala Pangampong, the leader of marijuana cultivators in Bato-Bato village, and his cohorts eluded arrest.

He said the raiding team burned some 20,000 marijuana plants planted in a two-hectare area.

He said the destruction of the marijuana plants ended around 10:30 a.m.

He said appropriate charges will be filed against the cultivators of the marijuana plantation. (SunStar Zamboanga)