CLOSE to P2.5 million worth of marijuana were uprooted by joint elements of the Philippine National Police and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).
Some 12,000 fully grown marijuana plants were initially uprooted in a joint illegal drugs operation conducted by Police Regional Office (PRO)-Cordillera, PRO-Ilocos, and PDEA in Kibungan, Benguet.
The site was located in Sitio Batangan, Takadang, Kibungan, which is within the tri-boundaries of Benguet-La Union-Ilocos Sur.
Chief Superintendent Rolando Nana, PRO-Cordillera director, said the plants were discovered in four different plantation sites, covering an estimate land area of 1,600 square meters.
Nana said the police and PDEA have been coordinating to eradicate marijuana plantation sites in the tri-boundaries considered by marijuana cultivators as a strategic location.
In another operation, personnel of the Mountain Province Provincial Police Office (MPPO) uprooted 110 fully-grown marijuana plants, worth P22,000, in Barangay Sadsadan, Bauko.
Nana said the police are still identifying the location of the cultivators.
The seized marijuana plants were burned in the plantation site and some were brought to the police station for evidence.
During the fourth quarter Regional Development and Peace and Order Council meeting in Baguio City last year, PDEA Cordillera said the street value of marijuana is around P130 per gram and P14,000 per kilo.